Rude! Donald Trump called on the cast of Hamilton to apologize to Vice President-elect Mike Pence after he was booed at a Friday, November 18, showing of the hit Broadway show.
“Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing,” the president-elect tweeted on Saturday, November 19. “This should not happen! The Theater must always be a safe and special place. The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!”
Trump later tweeted: “Very rude and insulting of Hamilton cast member to treat our great future V.P. Mike Pence to a theater lecture.Couldn’t even memorize lines!” The real estate mogul deleted the tweet shortly afterwards.
On Friday, Pence, 57, was greeted with a mix of cheers and jeers as he, his daughter Charlotte and his nieces and nephew took their seats in the audience.
Later on, as they tried to duck out of the theater just at curtain call, actor Brandon Victor Dixon (who plays Aaron Burr in the musical) delivered an impassioned speech on behalf of the cast.
“Vice President-elect Pence, I see you’re walking out, but I hope you will hear just a few more minutes,” Dixon can be heard saying in clips that have quickly circulated online.
Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended #HamiltonBway. After the show, @BrandonVDixon delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) November 19, 2016
“We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our friends, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights,” Dixon said, reading from a piece of paper. “But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us.”
New York Times political correspondent Patrick Healy later tweeted that the show’s creator, Lin Manuel Miranda, director Tommy Kail, producer Jeffrey Seller and the cast wrote the statement after learning that Pence was coming to see the show.
On Saturday, Dixon took to Twitter to respond to the 70-year-old president-elect’s demand for an apology.
“@realDonaldTrump conversation is not harassment sir,” he wrote. “And I appreciate @mike_pence for stopping to listen.”