Megyn Kelly and Jake Tapper finally found something to agree on: how terrible the Freedom 250 festival lineup is.
Both hosts took time out of their respective Friday shows to tear down the lineup for the Great American State Fair, a 16-day celebration set to kick off the country’s 250th birthday. The lineup started bad but has progressively gotten worse as those who originally agreed to do it are now backing out one by one.
“This has been a disaster from start to finish,” Kelly said on her SiriusXM show Friday. “I tried to find somebody defending it. I went to the Republicans, who I follow on X, and trust me, I follow thousands of them. They were all ripping it, too. No one was impressed. It may sound mean, but it’s true. No one was impressed. Everyone thought this was kind of a joke.”
She added: “I have my own theory, which is I actually don’t think this is fear of backlash for getting too political or being in favor of Trump. I think they saw the universal reaction to this lineup as, I’m sorry, pathetic. It was a very negative reaction across the board, and they said, ‘Oh my god, I can’t be a part of that.’ Everyone’s looking at each other thinking you’re the one they’re talking about when they say it’s pathetic, you’re the one they’re talking about when they say it’s lame, not me, and I can’t be associated with you losers.”
The performers started dropping out shortly after the lineup dropped. At this point, Bret Michaels, Martina McBride, Morris Day, Milli Vanilli, The Commodores and Young MC have all cut ties with the event. C+C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida are still listed on the Freedom 250 lineup, with additional names expected to be announced.
Tapper ran through the list of those who were pulling from the show, as he marveled at who exactly the concert was for and if many of the performers were dropping because “there is a perception, at least, that Freedom 250 is more partisan and more pro-Trump.”
“I’m old enough to remember America’s 200th birthday in 1976, and that was a time that it did seem, I mean I was young, I was seven, but it did seemed like the country came together to celebrate and put aside the differences,” Tapper said. “Frankly, a lot of Americans think that President Trump is governing in a very partisan way and focusing on himself, not the country as a whole. Hence that $250 bill being proposed with his face on it.”
He continued: “The more these celebrations can be non-partisan, bipartisan the more people can come together. And that unity is tough to come by these days.”
The Great American State Fair is still set to kick off June 25, but the festivities start even earlier than that. The UFC Freedom 250 event will take place June 14 on the South Lawn of the White House.
