JD Vance Booed for 30 Seconds Straight at the Kennedy Center

Those hoping to hear a performance of the National Symphony Orchestra Thursday night were treated to a different—but no less pleasurable—audio experience: hundreds of people booing Vice President JD Vance.

Vance’s arrival got a fiery reception at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which erupted into at least 30 seconds of jeers as Vance smiled and waved to the audience.

Boos for JD Vance as he enters tonight’s concert at the Kennedy Center pic.twitter.com/IWTsJUWjCR

— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) March 13, 2025

The vice president was accompanied by second lady Usha Vance, who was named to the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees last month, among a spate of new appointees that were part of Donald Trump’s takeover of the cultural institution.

Trump declared his intention to become the chairman of the Kennedy Center in February, before claiming that he had been “unanimously” picked to hold the position—though reportedly that wasn’t even true. He also claimed that the institution had booked drag shows “specifically targeting our youth.”

“We took over the Kennedy Center. We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things,” Trump said at the time. “I’m going to be chairman of it, and we’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be ‘woke.’”

Clearly, the actual attendees of the Kennedy Center have different feelings about Trump’s takeover—and let themselves be heard.

Luckily, the acoustics carried their dissent amazingly well.