{"id":32703,"date":"2016-09-24T11:29:26","date_gmt":"2016-09-24T18:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=32703"},"modified":"2016-09-24T11:31:49","modified_gmt":"2016-09-24T18:31:49","slug":"obama-presents-medals-for-the-arts-heres-what-the-honorees-think-of-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=32703","title":{"rendered":"Obama Presents Medals For The Arts: Here&#8217;s What The Honorees Think Of Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week President Obama paid tribute to a group of distinguished Americans who represent the best of our nation&#8217;s culture. At a White House ceremony Obama paid tribute to recipients of the National Medal for the Arts and the Humanities. They come from diverse world&#8217;s of theater, literature, music, and other creative occupations. Among the honorees were beloved and revered figures like Mel Brooks and Morgan Freeman. But there is something that several of them share besides a passion to enrich the lives of others.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/Pix\/Campaign-2016\/obama-brooks.jpg\" alt=\"Obama Brooks\" width=\"550\" height=\"296\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-32705\" \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsCorpse\/posts\/1443713392310118\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Share on Facebook\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/Pix\/Advs\/fb-share-tn.jpg\" width=\"274\" height=\"20\" class=\"aligncenter\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many of the honorees have distinct ideas about the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump. And these intelligent, insightful communicators have not been particularly impressed. Here are some of the opinions articulated in the past by these renowned observers of the human condition.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3iAMPzQzI-4\" target=\"_blank\">Actor Morgan Freeman:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;Donald Trump is the Honey Boo Boo of rich people.&#8221;<br \/>\n<em>[Note: Freeman is an avid Clinton supporter and narrated the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PTe70CmYWv4\" target=\"_blank\">biography video<\/a><\/strong> that played at the Democratic convention]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/video.latino.foxnews.com\/v\/4546098072001\/sandra-cisneros-donald-trump-is-a-frightened-man\/\" target=\"_blank\">Author Sandra Cisneros:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;Donald Trump is a very frightened man. Anyone who is frightened has to bluster and yell and shout.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.walkerart.org\/visualarts\/2015\/12\/23\/jack-whitten-best-of-2015-list\/\" target=\"_blank\">Painter Jack Whitten:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;I thought that Sarah Palin was the ultimate political comic book character until Donald Trump entered the scene.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/historians-donald-trump_us_578644dee4b03fc3ee4e9da7\" target=\"_blank\">Author Ron Chernow:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nThe Trump campaign disturbed him more than \u201cany other presidential campaign in our history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/wyntonmarsalis.org\/news\/entry\/marsalis-offers-his-take-on-trumps-tune\" target=\"_blank\">Musician Wynton Marsalis:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;It\u2019s cheap populism. It\u2019s an attempt to get a voter base. They used to scapegoat black people, but now there are so many black people in jail they use Mexicans.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/audraequalitymc\/status\/737709282163052545\" target=\"_blank\">Singer\/Actor Audra McDonald:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nSo the KKK, Vladmir Putin, and Kim Jong-Un all endorse Trump for president&#8230;Are we sure this isn&#8217;t an episode of South Park?<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/reliable-source\/wp\/2016\/02\/26\/chef-jose-andres-to-judge-trumps-immigrant-comments-made-the-mogul-a-pariah\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chef Jose Andres:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nTrump is &#8220;a man whose statements had made him a pariah for the great majority of the Hispanic community.&#8221; <em>[Note: Andres is currently in litigation with Trump after pulling his restaurant out of Trump&#8217;s new Washington, DC hotel. The dispute arose following Trump&#8217;s campaign announcement during which he called Mexicans rapists and criminals]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ew.com\/article\/2015\/11\/17\/mel-brooks-get-smart-donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Actor\/Writer\/Director Mel Brooks:<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;If I were doing a sitcom I&#8217;d do it about a powerful idiot like this guy, who&#8217;s running a big corporation or a big network and we&#8217;d get to see behind the scenes what an idiot he is.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As a special bonus for attendees of the ceremony, when Mel Brooks rose to accept his medal he smiled graciously and then tried to pants the President. However, setting aside that brief and hilarious departure from decorum, these recipients are themselves a tribute to the spirit and vision of American creativity. Their experience and wisdom is both representative and inspirational. And it is not insignificant that so many people of this stature regard Donald Trump as a national embarrassment. If only there were an award for that.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><strong>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00QSSMOES\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=newscorpsecom-20&#038;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS\" target=\"_blank\">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.<\/a><br \/>\nAvailable now at Amazon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NJaBzcJ5mlM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week President Obama paid tribute to a group of distinguished Americans who represent the best of our nation&#8217;s culture. At a White House ceremony Obama paid tribute to recipients of the National Medal for the Arts and the Humanities. They come from diverse world&#8217;s of theater, literature, music, and other creative occupations. Among the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,152,1],"tags":[183,554],"class_list":["post-32703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-culture","category-election","category-general","tag-barack-obama","tag-donald-trump"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/obama-brooks.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-8vt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35438,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=35438","url_meta":{"origin":32703,"position":0},"title":"How Toxic is Donald Trump? He Can&#8217;t Even Show His Face at the Kennedy Center Honors","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/19\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"America is currently suffering through a presidency that has severely lowered the bar for respect and dignity. Donald Trump once promised that he could be \"more presidential than any president that\u2019s ever held this office.\" For some reason he exempted Lincoln, but not Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, or even Reagan. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-wiggum-presidenty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-wiggum-presidenty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-wiggum-presidenty.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67059,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=67059","url_meta":{"origin":32703,"position":1},"title":"Egomaniacal Trump Hires Himself to Host (and Disgrace) the Kennedy Center Honors","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/13\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is an institution that was built to honor extraordinarily talented members of the entertainment industry. For half a century it has lived up to its reputation for excellence and pride in the creative pursuits that have defined American culture. Click here to post\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art\/Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art\/Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trumo-award.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trumo-award.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trumo-award.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36699,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=36699","url_meta":{"origin":32703,"position":2},"title":"Trump &#8216;Honored&#8217; by Journalists&#8217; Organization for &#8216;Undermining Global Press Freedom&#8217;","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/9\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many American presidents have had a contentious relationship with the press. At times it has become a bitter rivalry wherein the media was regarded as a troublesome annoyance that embraced deliberate biases. But most of the time there remained a deep-rooted respect for the freedom of the press and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Censorship&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Censorship","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=56"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump Censorship","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-censorship.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-censorship.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-censorship.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68553,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=68553","url_meta":{"origin":32703,"position":3},"title":"PLAY OR PAY? 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He frequently disgorges it in rabid rants on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social. And it is aimed at anyone who is even mildly critical, or less than drooling with adoration. Click here to post\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art\/Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art\/Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stephen Colbert & Trump Baby","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-trump-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-trump-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-trump-baby.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39324,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=39324","url_meta":{"origin":32703,"position":5},"title":"More Proof that Fox News is Not News: Zero Emmys for News and Documentaries","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/2\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced this year's winners of the 39th Annual News and Documentary Emmys on Tuesday morning. The honorees represent a diverse array of journalistic excellence as produced by a variety of news organizations from across the television landscape. However, there is one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fox News Sad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-sad-emoji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-sad-emoji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-sad-emoji.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32703"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32711,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32703\/revisions\/32711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}