Trump’s interior secretary dismisses calls to identify donors for ‘nonpartisan’ concert series

Key Takeaways

• The Trump administration’s interior secretary, Doug Burgum, complained on Sunday that some musicians “seem to have segmented their audiences” after artists bailed on participating in a concert series planned for the 250th anniversary of the US’s independence.
• In the interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Burgum also dismissed calls to publicly identify who had made donations for the concert series – and maintained it was a “nonpartisan” event despite Donald Trump referring to it as a rally.
• “I can’t weigh into the politics of musicians because some musicians want to play music for everybody.
• And some musicians seem to have segmented their audiences the same way politicians have,” Burgum told State of the Union host Dana Bash.
• “Freedom 250 and the celebration of 250 is a non partisan event.” Bash pushed back on Burgum about the non-partisan claim, saying musicians maintained they were misinformed that the event in Washington DC was apolitical.