A Democrat on the Kennedy Center’s board has hit out at the Trump administration’s suggestion that the historic site could be demolished.
The performing arts venue has become a flashpoint for tensions between the president and his critics, with Trump being ordered to remove his name from the building in June.
However, earlier this week, attorneys at the Department of Justice branded the building as being “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital” in court filings.
The DOJ argued that Trump worked to overhaul the site upon taking office. They added that a “decrepit” Kennedy Center without his support would need to be taken down and possibly replaced with a “large outdoor amphitheater.”
On Wednesday, lawyers working with Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democratic member of the Kennedy Center’s board, hit out at the suggestion in their own filing.
“In plain English, Defendants have not-so-subtly said: `What a nice Kennedy Center you have here. What a shame should something happen to it,’” the document reads.
The filing continues, “This is a breathtaking assault on the rule of law. It is delusional. And it must stop.”
Former President John F. Kennedy’s name was added to the venue back in 1964, following his assassination, with the building opening to the public in 1971.
However, the current president added his own name to the Kennedy Center last year when the board voted for the site to be renamed as: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Trump had previously replaced several trustees of the center’s board and even appointed himself as a trustee, paving the way for him to be voted in as the center’s chairman.
In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the renaming was unlawful, stating that changing the name of a national memorial requires the approval of Congress, with Trump’s name being removed a month later.
In August, though, the Kennedy Center board voted 20-3 to have Trump’s name stamped onto the iconic venue, albeit in a different phrasing.
The new facade would include a line reading: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”
Also, the phrase “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund,” would be added once an endowment voted into existence by the board reaches $100 million.
Last week, Beatty filed an emergency motion asking the U.S. District of Columbia to block the Kennedy Center’s board from stamping Trump’s name on the building once again.
In Wednesday’s filing, Beatty’s lawyers went on to dispute the DOJ’s suggestion that the center’s alleged decline would continue without Trump’s name being added to the building.
