Despite their meeting last month, Donald Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee team never asked Kanye West to perform at Friday’s event in Washington, DC. The reason: The rapper apparently isn’t “traditionally American” enough.
“We haven’t asked him,” Tom Barrack, the committee’s chair, told CNN earlier this week. “He considers himself a friend of the president-elect, but it’s not the venue. The venue we have for entertainment is filled out, it’s perfect, it’s going to be typically and traditionally American, and Kanye is a great guy but we just haven’t asked him to perform. We move on with our agenda.”
Rather than West, one of the most popular recording artists of all time, the bill for the inauguration will feature significantly less high-profile acts like Toby Keith and Jackie Evancho.
But the committee is totally OK with that, despite previous reports that countless performers have turned down the opportunity to play at the inauguration and its satellite events — even a Bruce Springsteen cover band.
“This is not Woodstock,” committee spokesperson Brian Epshteyn told the network. “It’s not Summer Jam. It’s not a concert.”
Wait.. why isn’t he singing? Because he can’t! Bwaaaah haaaah haaaah haaaah!