As has been widely reported, the November 18th performance of Hamilton closed out with a quickly-prepared speech read by Brandon Victor Dixon and directed at Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who was in attendance that night.
Reaction to the speech — a plea to the new administration to “uphold our American values” — dominated social media over the weekend, and Donald Trump himself took to Twitter several times to trot out his particular brand of outrage and demand that the cast of the “overrated” show apologize immediately.
Dixon appeared on CBS This Morning to defend his speech and explained why he has no reason to apologize to Trump:
The resonant nature of the show throughout the world, throughout the global community, demands that we make statements when there are important issues I think facing us as a community. We wanted to stand up and spread a message of love and unity considering all of the emotional outpour since the election.”
Dixon says he delivered the speech to express the cast’s feelings about Trump’s election and the fact that his proposed administration has left everyone feeling “alarmed and anxious.”
On Twitter, Trump decried Dixon’s “terrible behavior” and chastised the cast, who he feels “harassed” Mike Pence.
Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2016
Later in the interview, Dixon said, “Art is meant to bring people together, it’s meant to raise consciousness. We welcome Donald Trump here to Hamilton.”
Mike Pence made an appearance on Fox News Sunday and discussed the incident, saying that he “enjoyed the show” and “wasn’t offended.”
“I know this is a very disappointing time for people that did not see their candidate win in this national election,” he said. “I know this is a very anxious time for some people.”
“I just want to reassure people that what Donald Trump said on Election Night, he absolutely meant from the bottom of his heart.”
Unfortunately, Pence dropped no hint as to where Trump’s heart could be located.
Watch Brandon Victor Dixon’s interview here:
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