Rep. Joyce Beatty said President Donald Trump shouted insults at her during a Kennedy Center board meeting Tuesday after a court blocked his latest effort to put his name on the building.
The Ohio Democrat, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, is suing Trump and the board he stocked with allies over their efforts to add his name to the storied performing arts center. Beatty says the meeting became a “tit for tat” between her and Trump, after she said he phoned into a Tuesday board meeting to berate her.
“It should be unthinkable for someone to hear a president using the language that he used. He threw a tantrum. It was like an immature child,” she told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday.
“I was not going to let him tell me that he thought I was incompetent,” Beatty added. “So I responded by telling him I knew he was incompetent.”
Trending
The phone call came just moments after the Kennedy Center board voted to temporarily close its main building for a $250 million renovation. The project’s future is now uncertain, though, after Trump announced that construction will not proceed unless his name is added to the building.
At the virtual meeting, Beatty said Trump threatened to hold her personally responsible if someone died because of the building’s condition.
Beatty accused Trump of “trying to hold the board hostage” and said she has never opposed repairs to make the building safe.
“He thought trying to bully me was going to stop me from standing up for what’s right,” she said. “He picked the wrong person.”
Author
