On Friday, November 18, Vice President-elect, Governor Mike Pence, attended Broadway's hit musical, "Hamilton," in New York City. Despite being an ordinary audience member for most of the show, things took an interesting turn after the curtain call; Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays the role of Aaron Burr, had something to say to Pence, which he said in front of the entire crowd. Listen and watch if you haven't already:
Dixon, on behalf of the entire "Hamilton" cast, crew, and creative team asked Pence to please consider all lives while he is in office for the next four years. He thanks Pence for attending the show, he calmly voices the concerns that he and many Americans have for the future, and he even encourages the audience not to "boo" Pence. However, while the monolog seemed like an unexpected but peaceful gesture, it has been the source of much controversy on the Internet. As you probably could have expected, President-elect, Donald Trump wasted no time taking his thoughts to Twitter, tweeting the following on Saturday morning:
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Once again, Trump has engaged in childish behavior and is refusing to listen to the voices of his people. People have a right to be scared for the future. People have a right to voice their opinions about the impending future. There is nothing wrong with people protesting and there is nothing wrong with what the cast of "Hamilton" did on Friday night; what did you expect from a Broadway cast which includes many of the targeted groups people are concerned about?
A better response from our president-elect would have been to ensure his people that he is listening to us and that he will protect all of us. But, unsurprisingly, he resorted to hate. For some strange reason, Trump thinks the cast of "Hamilton" should apologize for their words to Pence but he doesn't feel that he himself should apologize to the millions of Americans he has insulted with his rude comments over the past few months. What Trump has said about women, the disabled, and racial minorities is harassment, what Dixon said Friday night was not.
Interestingly enough, Mike Pence made a statement following the incident, saying he was "not offended" by the remarks made by Dixon. Yet, Trump's twitter rampage inspired a Trump supporter to irrationally interrupt a "Hamilton" performance in Chicago on Saturday. So thank you, Mr. Trump, for blowing the situation out of proportion and discouraging Americans from voicing their genuine concerns about what their lives will be like in your America. If this is how Trump will respond to every situation, please just wake me up when it's 2020.
