THIS is weekend, history was made once more in the room where it happens: Mike Pence attended Hamilton on Broadway, only to get booed (and cheered!) by the audience and directly addressed by the show’s cast. Naturally, President-elect Donald Trump did not take kindly to this treatment of his second-in-command, so he did what any reasonable politician would do: start a Twitter feud. Seth Meyers jumped at the chance to make hay out of the absurdity of it all—before pointing out that as fun as this story is, it shouldn’t distract us from graver, less amusing causes for concern.
Lest anyone think it’s just the “urban elite” who can’t hide their distaste for the incoming V.P., Meyers made sure to roll a clip of Pence getting booed at a baseball game in his home state of Indiana, before joking, “I actually think there’s a hopeful message hidden in all of this, which is, our country may be divided, but one thing we can all find comfort in—whether you’re at a Broadway show in Manhattan or a baseball game in Indiana—is booing the shit out of Mike Pence.”
Naturally, Pence’s response to the incident—”that’s what freedom sounds like”—was far more measured than Trump’s. Our president-elect can’t resist a good Twitter feud, and so he blasted off multiple messages, called for an apology, and sparked the hashtag #BoycottHamilton. (That campaign might have been more effective if the musical weren’t already sold out through next summer.)
But, as many frustrated Twitter users have noted over the past few days, there are far bigger causes for concern leaking out of Trump land already. Meyers noted that the Hamilton feud is “just a distraction” that mustn’t obscure bigger issues.
For instance: Trump just settled three lawsuits alleging fraud against Trump University for a sum of $25 million. It’s a hefty price tag for a guy who claims to never settle lawsuits, but of course, Trump claimed he only made the deal so that he could “focus on our country”—apparently starting with its taste in musicals.
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