On Monday night's episode of "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart mocked President Donald Trump's "Freedom 250" concert series after more than half of the attendees pulled out.
«"Man, I need some good news. I need some relief. And I'll tell you why," Stewart said at the beginning of his monologue. "Because, as many of you know, that big 250th Anniversary of Freedom concert I was so looking forward to… ran into some problems.".
More from Variety
-
John Oliver has sharply criticized the failure of Trump's concert to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the freedom movement.
-
Trump has called for the cancellation of the troubled Freedom 250 concert series after criticizing the "overrated, third-rate artists" his organization has booked.
-
Vanilla Ice defends plans to perform at Trump's 250 Years of Freedom event: 'I'll play for Putin, and I'll play in Iran if you want.'.
Stewart then showed a clip from an NBC News report that five of the nine musical acts scheduled to perform at the Freedom 250 had pulled out, citing "political concerns." Among those who pulled out were Martina McBride, Young MC, The Commodores, Morris Day, and Bret Michaels.
The mass exodus of artists prompted Stewart to ask, "Is anyone still performing?" The answer came in the form of an enthusiastic TikTok video from rapper Vanilla Ice, who exclaimed in his post, "America is turning 250! I'm so honored to be playing this concert with you all. We're bringing back the 90s!"«
«"Exactly!" Stewart exclaimed. "See? Everyone quit except Vanilla Ice. Vanilla Ice didn't quit. He saw a problem and, man, he solved it.".
After the Freedom 250 rally began to unravel, Trump announced on his blog, Truth Social, that he wanted to "cancel it," though it wasn't clear whether he meant the entire concert series or just the performances the artists had canceled. He also used the opportunity to criticize the "corrupt judges" who had ruled against him in his bid to gain control of the Kennedy Center.
«"Cancel it," Trump tweeted Saturday night, "just as I canceled my participation in the ineffective and unsafe Kennedy Center because a deeply corrupt, crooked federal judge said I shouldn't be allowed to spend my time and money MAKING THE CENTER GREAT AGAIN, much better than it was before! It would also be nice to see a Republican-Democratic alliance bring it back to life. The Kennedy Center is broken, unsafe, and has been in disrepair for years! Judge Cooper also said the Center's highly prestigious board had no right to add the name 'TRUMP,' despite the hundreds of millions of dollars of my time and money being needed to successfully revive it. So now the Kennedy Center will collapse, both structurally and financially. Judge Cooper and his wife, Amy Jeffress (anyone want to confuse the issue?), should be ashamed of themselves. Judge Cooper, like so many other corrupt judges in my cases, should "Impeach him. Make America Great Again, President Donald J. Trump.".
Watch the entire monologue below.
The best of variety
-
What's Coming to Disney+ in June 2026?
-
What's Coming to Netflix in June 2026?
-
Tony Awards Predictions: Early Predictions Including 'Death of a Salesman' and 'The Lost Boys,' Plus Possible Records for Squibb, Lithgow, and Apple.
Subscribe to the Variety newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.