Outspoken singer Linda Ronstadt delivered a brutally honest takedown at a State Department dinner Saturday night when she told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to stop “enabling” President Donald Trump.
Ronstadt was among a group of Kennedy Center honorees at the event. Sam Greisman, son of another honoree, Sally Field, was the first to tweet about the clash, calling the 73-year-old singer an “icon.”
Pompeo — in a play on Ronstadt’s 1975 blockbuster hit “When Will I Be Loved” — congratulated her at the dinner, then quipped: “As I travel the world, I wonder when will I be loved.” He also declared himself a “big fan.”
When it was Ronstadt’s turn at the mike, she had a zinger for Pompeo: “I’d like to say to Mr. Pompeo, who wonders when he’ll be loved, it’s when he stops enabling Donald Trump,” Variety reported. Then, she abruptly sat down.
Her comment first drew gasps, then applause — then cheers, according to Variety.
Pompeo presented Ronstadt, Field, “Sesame Street,” the band Earth, Wind and Fire, and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas with rainbow-ribboned medals at the dinner, which also included family members. They were honored Sunday night at the Kennedy Center.
Presidents and their wives typically attend the Kennedy Center gala, but Trump and the First Lady will skip the event for the third year in a row.
“In a perfect world, we would have the president of the United States in attendance,” Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter told The Washington Post. “It’s an important evening for the arts — not just at the Kennedy Center, but all across America.”
