President-elect Donald Trump accused the "Hamilton" cast Saturday of harassing Vice President-elect Mike Pence at a performance Friday evening after the actors called on Pence to "uphold our American values."
"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!" Trump
tweeted Saturday morning.
He
followed up: "The Theater must always be a safe and special place. The
cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike
Pence. Apologize!"
The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
Cast member Brandon Dixon, who portrays
Aaron Burr in the Broadway show and delivered the statement to Pence
during the curtain call, soon replied on Twitter, "@realDonaldTrump
conversation is not harassment sir. And I appreciate @mike_pence for
stopping to listen."
Trump fired back Saturday
evening, reiterating his feelings about the statement and taking a jab
at Dixon for reading it from a cue card. In a tweet that was later
deleted, Trump wrote, "Very rude and insulting of Hamilton cast member
to treat our great future V.P. Mike Pence to a theater lecture. Couldn't
even memorize lines!"
Very rude and insulting of Hamilton cast member to treat our great future V.P. Mike Pence to a theater lecture.Couldn't even memorize lines!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2016
Word
spread on social media Friday night that Pence was in the house for the
hit show, and during the curtain call, Dixon urged Pence to "work on
behalf of all of us."
"Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome
you and we truly thank you for joining us here at 'Hamilton: An American
Musical.' We really do," Dixon said.
"We,
sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your
new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our
parents or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we
truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and
work on behalf of all of us. All of us."
Dixon,
who urged the audience not to boo Pence, said the show was performed by
"a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and
orientations."
The crowd loudly cheered and applauded Dixon's remarks.
Sam
Rudy, a publicist for "Hamilton," said Pence was exiting the theater at
the time and stopped to listen to Dixon. Rudy described Dixon's remarks
as a "polite request" and said he can "see no way whatsoever how the
cast of 'Hamilton' can be seen as being rude."
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