Despite taking centre-stage as host of a prestigious A-list award ceremony over the weekend, President Trump couldn't help but take aim at a number of 'miserable, horrible' audience members.
The Republican leader appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Sunday evening (7 December), to front the entertainment facility's 2025 honours.
There, he'd inherited the responsibility of handing out a series of impressive accolades across five categories, to influential individuals in the worlds of music, film and theatre.
Trump was controversially elected chairperson of the arts board back in February after dismissing half of the board of trustees, leaving only loyal, more recent appointees to vote him in.
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The president said he wanted to take over the Kennedy Center because of 'woke' shows, citing 'drag shows' and 'anti-American propaganda' on Truth Social. But he admitted to reporters he hadn't actually seen any productions there, just heard 'reports they were so bad'.
He later claimed in August that he was 'about 98 percent involved' in selecting this year's winners.
Among those to be honoured over the weekend were Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone, country music star George Strait, the rock band KISS, 'I Will Survive' hit-maker Gloria Gaynor, and English actor and comic Michael Crawford.
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During his presidential address, however, while heaping praise onto award winners, the POTUS took the opportunity to take a swipe at several attendees, either observing the ceremony from the audience or watching from home.
"If there is one thread that connects all of these amazing artists together, it is the word persistence," Trump gushed. "I can say that with a lot of the members of our audience, I know so many of you and you are persistent.
He quickly added, though: "Many of you are miserable, horrible people."
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Following the unexpected dig, the former businessman returned to the overarching theme of the evening, adding that this year's winners boast 'an unwavering commitment to absolute excellence in their craft'.
"That's what they've done," he went on. "All of them have overcome great odds and faced their share of setbacks, tremendous setbacks.
"Some of them have had legendary setbacks, that you have to read in the papers when they because of their level of faith, they have a problem to read about it. But in the words of Rocky Balboa, they showed us that you keep moving forward."
And it wouldn't be a Trump speech without the politician tooting his own horn, gloating over all of the alleged improvements he's made to the Kennedy Centre since he took over as its head.
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"The Kennedy Center is back, and it's going to be bigger and better and more beautiful than ever before," he claimed. "You'll see that.
"You'll see it taking place before your very eyes. It's already started, and we raised over the last month, over $100 million can you believe it? They've never come close."
The 79-year-old went on to insist: "So we're doing we're doing well, we're very proud of everything that's been accomplished."
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics
Rhianna Benson