{"id":152,"date":"2026-05-31T11:12:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-05-31T11:12:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:12:50","slug":"trumps-great-american-state-fair-is-anything-but-bret-michaels-and-martina-mcbride-proved-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s \u2018Great American State Fair\u2019 is anything but. Bret Michaels and Martina McBride proved it."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

To be fair, it was never going to be great<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The \u201cGreat American State Fair,\u201d part of the 250th birthday party for the United States that will take over the National Mall for two weeks in Washington, D.C. this summer, began to unravel in spectacular fashion last week when the headlining musical acts \u2013 such as they were \u2013 began to bow out, one after another, barely hours after being announced.<\/p>\n

Read more Brian Flores is close to pulling back a curtain the NFL prefers to keep shut<\/a><\/p>\n

On Saturday, a clearly enraged President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to mock the artists who canceled, musing that he should replace them with himself: the \u201cnumber one attraction anywhere in the world.\u201d Not long after a spokesperson for Freedom 250, the White House-backed group behind the fair, said Trump will \u201cpersonally kick off this historic celebration\u201d in an opening ceremony. Not exactly an inspiring start to the festivities, certainly, but it did offer a fairly revealing look at what has happened to the Trump brand over the past 16 months.<\/p>\n

The chaos all began on Wednesday. In a since-deleted post, the Freedom 250 X account, promising America-first programming, \u201cMAHA Mondays\u201d and free admission, announced a musical lineup that originally included Martina McBride, Young MC, C+C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, the Commodores, Morris Day and The Time, Flo Rida, Bret Michaels \u201cand many more.\u201d The organizers seemed intent on entertaining visitors primarily by transporting them back in time to the 1980s and \u201890s.<\/p>\n

To be fair, Vanilla Ice is already a Mar-A-Lago favorite, and both the Commodores and the duo<\/em> Milli Vanilli are essentially frauds that include only one original member each, so those choices felt about right. But while Michaels may be a punch line, he is also the frontman for notorious 1980s hair metal band Poison. And McBride, while perhaps past her prime, remains a legitimate modern country music icon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By Thursday, however, McBride was out, with Michaels pulling the plug on his appearance, too. (Morris Day, the Commodores and Young MC had already withdrawn.)<\/p>\n

Young MC claimed in an interview that he had \u201cno clue\u201d the fair was a politically driven event, calling the booking a \u201cbait and switch.\u201d In a lengthy statement posted to his website, Michaels similarly balked, and rightly so, at the idea that anyone could think his shows might be a place for politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re about giving people a place to come together, have a great time and forget about life\u2019s stresses for a few hours,\u201d he wrote. \u201cUnfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of,\u201d adding that safety concerns and unspecified personal threats had led him to the \u201cdifficult decision to step away from this performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

But McBride\u2019s decision may be the most striking, not just for what she said, but because of the audience she represents.<\/p>\n

Read more At least 15 killed in shooting at Jewish celebration at Sydney\u2019s Bondi Beach<\/a><\/p>\n

Reflecting the sentiment of other acts who bailed, the Grammy-nominated singer said that she was misled to believe the fair was a nonpartisan event, like the many other \u201cwholesome\u201d state fairs she performs at.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent my entire career singing songs about real people with real issues,\u201d McBride continued. \u201cI\u2019ve been blessed with the opportunity to be a voice for those who have felt like they didn\u2019t have one. It greatly upsets me that any fan who has been moved by my music may now feel like I\u2019m abandoning the meaning behind those songs. I assure you, that is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was major news, and MAGA world took notice. Remember that it was only a year ago that contemporary country star Carrie Underwood happily accepted an invitation to perform at Trump\u2019s second swearing-in ceremony, despite not insignificant backlash from progressive fans.<\/p>\n

For an artist like McBride to make a public statement like this feels bigger than one festival. She isn\u2019t some over-the-hill casino entertainer. The 59-year-old songstress is a traditional, conservative-coded country artist. McBride has sold many millions of records over her decades-long career, with songs that frequently mix classic country themes of God and faith with heartbreak, hope and resilience. <\/p>\n

But something, clearly, has shifted. And fast. Despite what some of her loudest critics are now implying on social media, McBride does not have a track record of supporting leftist causes. Instead, her decision highlights in the starkest of terms just how culturally corrosive Trump has become during his second term. That\u2019s what a war of choice, soaring gas and food prices, stagnating inflation, and an aggregate job approval rating in the 30s can lead to.<\/p>\n

Still, as former \u201cSNL\u201d band leader G.E. Smith dubiously claimed when confronted about his standing gig as the musical director for the Republican National Convention, a gig\u2019s a gig. And no doubt there are musicians out there who will gladly perform at Trump\u2019s fair, no matter how bad the look. Kid Rock and Ted Nugent seem like obvious choices. Jonathan Cain of Journey \u2013 husband of Paula White-Cain, one of Trump\u2019s \u201cspiritual advisors\u201d \u2013 should probably keep his ringer on, too, this weekend. And further down the MAGA food chain there are surely plenty of D-list Heartland rockers ready to heed the call.<\/p>\n

Or maybe not. The Trump brand has never been more toxic, and most artists are planning for careers beyond 2028.<\/p>\n

Read more State Dept. meets far-right AfD official ahead of MAGA gala<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The pair\u2019s refusal to participate in this summer\u2019s White House-backed event reveals something striking about the current toxicity of the president\u2019s brand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s \u2018Great American State Fair\u2019 is anything but. 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