Donald Trump threatens to perform at the Freedom 250 concert series

The Freedom 250 concert series—billed as a non-partisan “Great American State Fair” celebrating America’s upcoming 250th birthday and featuring an initial lineup of artists whose 15 minutes of fame expired when Bill Clinton was still in office—has not gone entirely as planned. The event was set to kick off on June 25 and feature acts such as Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, The Commodores, Morris Day and the Time, Young MC, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, and Flo Rida, but almost all of them have dropped out since last Wednesday. With Freedom 250 in dire need of replacements, President Donald Trump has offered up his services. 

The president posted this run-on sentence to his Truth Social account on Saturday: “I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance on Wednesday, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists,’ and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!”

Then, Trump found the “.” on his keyboard and used it accordingly. “Two years ago, the United States was DEAD. Now we have the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World,” he continued. “I don’t want so-called ‘Artists’ that get paid far too much money, who aren’t happy. I only want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and People that know how to WIN. So, by copy of this TRUTH, I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited — It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America!”

Freedom 250 is a public-private group that has been working with the White House to curate events celebrating America’s upcoming 250th birthday. Watchdog organizations like Citizens for Responsibility have since questioned the origins of the Freedom 250’s private donations, though Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNN that “it’s not about the transparency of the donors. This is about Americans celebrating the 250th anniversary.” He also called the concert series a “non-partisan” event, but Trump’s support for the celebration—along with the event sharing its name with Kid Rock’s upcoming tour—has led critics to question that characterization.

Morris Day and the Time kicked off the wave of dropouts, writing “It’s A No For Me” on Instagram, denying “rumors” that they would be playing the event, despite appearing on the event’s official lineup poster. Young MC followed Day’s lead by telling VIBE, “I had no clue it was considered a ‘Trump-backed’ event, so that was new to me. My whole thing was ‘tell me what the event is, what it’s about, who you are, and then give me the choice of whether I want to do the event or not.’ I was never given that choice. I was told one thing and then it was a bait-and-switch. All the comments I’ve seen from the artists that have dropped out thought it was supposed to be a regular show in D.C.”

Martina McBride’s statement echoed Young MC’s quote, citing that the Freedom 250 concert series was presented to her as a non-partisan event “meant to celebrate ALL 50 states” that “turned out to be misleading.” Bret Michaels thought the event was going to be a “celebration of country through music and a chance to honor our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life.” He went on to call the concert series “something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of.” 

Jodie Rocco, one of the original studio vocalists behind the Milli Vanilli recordings, said last Wednesday that she and her sister Linda were not asked to appear but “were shocked to see our name, ‘Milli Vanilli,’ as one of the performers.” A press release from the siblings later clarified that any act using the Milli Vanilli name at the event “should be considered a tribute band.” One day later, Fab Morvan—one half of the original Milli Vanilli duo (with the late Rob Pilatus), who won a Grammy award in 1990 and then had it rescinded after they were discovered to be lip-syncing—confirmed that he would be performing at the Freedom 250 event. “I am here to entertain and unite people, not divide them,” Morvan shared. “Let’s celebrate life & music and take a trip down memory lane. I feel honored to be a part of the Great American State Fair as it will celebrate the 250 Year Anniversary of America with so many other accomplished artists.”

The funniest development of this whole saga came at the hands of C+C Music Factory rapper Freedom Williams, who, while sitting proudly on the toilet, filmed a video of himself responding to the public backlash. “I don’t give a fuck about Trump. I don’t give a fuck about Trump’s family. I know the type of fucking anarchy he creates,” he said. “But the day I let you motherfuckers tell me what to do is the day I die… I will vote for fucking Genghis Khan, Hitler, and motherfucking Ivan the Terrible before I let you n***as tell me what to motherfucking do.” Apparently, Williams was going to drop out of the event, but decided to stay on after everyone started making a fuss about the lineup and Freedom 250’s ties to President Trump. Here’s another section of Williams’ very long rant:

“You know who 90% of the people was at our shows? White people. You know who 70% of those white people probably voted for? Republicans. So you n***as don’t fucking count. You need to stop being on social media thinking that your fucking opinion matters. It don’t. Go talk to your mama. Your mama opinion matters. Only to you. I’ll do the motherfucking show in North Korea. Pissing on a fucking American flag. Smoking a Cuban cigar. Drinking Venezuelan wine. Playing golf with motherfucking Kim Jong Un. With an Iranian bitch on my lap. While Trump’s standing there with his dick in his hand, that’s how much of a fuck I give what you n***as think.” C+C Music Factory co-founder Robert Clivillés weighed in on Facebook, saying that the event “misrepresents” his group’s name and that anyone performing there, presumably Williams, should be presented as a solo act. 

Williams won’t be all alone at the Freedom 250 concerts. That’s My Boy actor Vanilla Ice plans to bring his copyright infringement music to the semiquincentennial event. “America is turning 250, let’s go! I’m super honored to do this concert with everybody,” he said, like he was filming a Cameo. “We’re gonna bring back the ’90s, put your dancin’ shoes on, you’ll be happy, trust me. It’s all about enjoying the great times of 250 years,” he said. “This is a magical event that’s gonna happen and very rare. I’m honored man, this is gonna be epic!” Despite his comment section being flooded with disagreeing users—including one person writing, “How can you perform for the President? The corruption and laws broken are off the chain man. You’re a smart good dude. Don’t do it”—Ice captioned his post with an assurance that the event is supposed “to bring us all together. I’m tired of all the news channels dividing this country. We are all one. This is not a political platform. This is celebrating America’s birthday. Nothing too serious just enjoying some fun, dancing and great memories.”

Three days ago, the Commodores shared on Instagram that they would not be performing at the Freedom 250 concerts. “Our music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party. We support the betterment of all Americans.” As of publication, Flo Rida is the only artist who has yet to release a formal comment on regarding his participation, though he was seen responding with laughing emojis to a “Performing for Trump? Why??” comment left under one of his older Instagram posts. 

Meanwhile, Trump continued to spend his Saturday talking about the Freedom 250 concerts, suggesting that the event should be canceled and replaced with, yes, a MAGA rally. “We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” he wrote. 

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