Friday evening, Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended the Broadway hit musical, Hamilton. As Daily Wire previously reported, the audience booed Pence and his family as he entered the theatre.
After the show, actor Brandon Victor Dixon delivered a public address to Pence from the stage:
“Vice President-Elect Pence, I see you walking out, but I hope you hear us, just a few more moments. There is nothing to boo here ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing to boo here. We are all here sharing a story of love. We have a message for you sir and we hope that you will here us out.
We have a message for you sir, and we hope that you will here us out. We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us–all of us.”
The Broadway cast had every right to do what they did. Free speech is the foundation upon which all other freedoms are built. However, it simply continued the long-standing trend of smug, self-congratulatory artists patting themselves on the back for sticking it to the man. Moreover, it accomplished absolutely nothing. Everyone who isn’t dead knows that the Left despises Donald Trump and Mike Pence; everyone has a relative or friend marching in the streets against the fairly-elected Trump; everyone sees the endless social media screeds against the president-elect. So, while the actions of the Hamilton cast are hardly surprising, it doesn’t make them any less masturbatory.
On the other hand, Donald Trump didn’t make anything better by tweeting about it. On Saturday, Trump sent out two tweets:
Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
In turn, Trump supporters started a #BoycottHamilton protest, which is a very difficult thing to do, given the show is sold out through January, and secondary tickets from vendors like StubHub sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Trump still can’t let it go, sending out a third tweet Sunday:
The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2016
For his part, Pence has been extremely gracious. Speaking with Fox News’ Chris Wallace Sunday, the vice president-elect said:
“First off, my daughter and I–and her cousins–really enjoyed the show. Hamilton is just an incredible production, and incredibly talented people. It was a real joy to be there. When we arrived, we heard a few boos and we heard some cheers and I nudged my kids and reminded them, that’s what freedom sounds like.
But at the end, I did hear what was said from the stage, and I can tell you I wasn’t offended by what was said. I’ll leave to others whether that was the appropriate venue to say it.”
Pence then opened up to a more broad response to the specific concerns addressed by the Hamilton cast:
“I do want to say that that the basic element, the center of that message is one that I want to address. I know this is a very disappointing time for people that did not see their candidate win in this national election. I know this is a very angry time for some people, and I just want to reassure people that what President-elect Donald Trump said on election night, he absolutely meant, from the bottom of his heart. He is preparing to be the president of all of the people of the United States of America.
And to watch him bringing together people of diverse views, bringing together people that differed with him strongly, seeing him talk to leaders from around the world; I just want to reassure every American that in the days ahead, I’m very confident that they’re going to see President-elect Donald Trump be a president for all of the people. We embrace that principle, and we’re going to work hard to make that principle every day that we serve.”
Wallace asked Pence if he wanted an apology, and Pence reiterated his previous statement: “I’ll leave to others whether it was the appropriate venue for that.” He then told Wallace to go see Hamilton if he hadn’t, calling it “great, great show.”
At this moment, Donald Trump is still engaging in useless and embarrassing word-wars over subjects that deserve no attention. The president-elect has much to learn from Mike Pence in terms of graciousness, and perhaps he will over the coming four years.
The Left thrives on the politics of fear, and the Hamilton incident was a prime example of that. Brandon Victor Dixon’s monologue to Mike Pence checked all the right boxes: He delivered it to a captive audience in a very public arena; although the words he used to address Pence were outwardly diplomatic, the undertones were clear: Americans should be afraid of Mike Pence and Donald Trump; he made Pence look like a villain, and himself look like a folk hero speaking for a besieged and monolithic minority; he likely knew that cameras would be there to capture the entire thing, which would go viral among an upset contingent of Americans, further ginning up fear and anger.
Dixon’s address helps to advance a very carefully-crafted story of good versus evil that the Left has been telling since the election. They need to reduce the complexity of Donald Trump and Mike Pence as human beings in order to sell them as an empirically evil force that should be resisted at all costs.
The best thing to do when progressives use this line of attack is to either let it go unanswered, or to reply with a calm and reasoned argument. Trump opted for door number three, angrily attacking the Hamilton cast. This simply serves to feed the beast, and further the progressive narrative that Trump and Pence are to be feared.
Donald Trump needs to learn that Twitter feuds do nothing but hurt him and his allies.