By Melissa Fleur Afshar in Newsweek (thanks to Bob P.)
Maria Shriver, a journalist, advocate and niece of the late President John F. Kennedy, condemned President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, calling it “beyond comprehension” in a social media message that quickly went viral.
Shriver, whose mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was JFK’s sister, posted a public rebuke on Threads after the board of trustees at the national performing arts center in Washington, D.C., voted to rename it the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
The board’s decision, announced Thursday, immediately triggered backlash from the Kennedy family and beyond. Shriver responded forcefully to the decision, characterizing the move as an inappropriate political branding of a national and sentimental memorial.
“The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie amplified the arts, celebrated the arts, stood up for the arts and artists,” Shriver wrote on Threads.
“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” Shriver added. “It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not. Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on.”
Maria Shriver is on stage at the Anaheim Convention Center on March 5, 2025 in Anaheim, California; Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Diploma…Read More | Getty Images
Her comments quickly gained traction online, with more than 50,000 likes on the first thread alone at the time of writing, as public opposition to the board’s decision grew.
In follow-up remarks, Shriver accused the president of self-obsession and ridiculed the idea that Trump’s name should be placed alongside those of other national landmarks.