WASHINGTON For the second year in a row, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump declined to attend the Kennedy Center Honors, the annual tradition commemorating performing artists who have made indelible achievements to American pop culture, usually attended by sitting presidents and first ladies.
On the red carpet before Sunday evenings show, honorees and guests fielded the expected questions about the presidents absence, reflecting on how in the Trump era, the president can become the story simply by not being there.
Praising Bush and sharing her personal memories of him, Estefan, a 2017 Kennedy Center honoree, said that he graciously attended this event many times during his administration, laughing, applauding, singing along, and even shedding a tear from right up there in that presidential box.
During previous ceremonies, presidents personal connections and candid reactions to each years group of pop culture legends often became memorable moments, like Aretha Franklin moving President Barack Obama to tears in 2015 during a performance honoring one of that years award recipients, Carole King.
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