Trump called the prohibition against the children's choir "a shame." And he's not wrong, the entire display from Capitol Police and the staffer who shut the performance down was a stain on our national character and the people's House.
Trump said he made the invitation out of a wish to pay his respects to "a very talented group of people" and to give them the opportunity to share those talents with "tens of thousands of people." Trump's rallies draw large crowds of supporters.
Choir director David Rasbach, who brought the choir to the Capitol Building in the first place only to be shut down, said it was "quite an honor" to be asked by the former president and current 2024 GOP frontrunner. "I wouldn't even think of turning him down," he said, per the Post and Courier.
Shocking reporting out from Tyler ONeil at The Daily Signal revealed that a children's choir was prevented from singing the National Anthem at the United States Capitol in May.
Rasbach had permission to hold the performance. He told O'Neil that both South Carolina Republican Reps. William Timmons and Joe Wilson had given permission and provided documents to that effect. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had also given approval. Despite this, the performance was interrupted.
Video footage shows choir master Rasbach conducting the children of the Rushingbrook Children's Choir in a harmonized a capella version of the anthem, with onlookers silenced by their voices, filming the concert.
Suddenly, a few apparent officials with uniforms, badges, or identification lanyards gather and begin discussing the performance before one of them approaches Rasbach and instructs him to stop the performance mid-song, which he does.
The Capitol Police denied having stopped the children from singing their nation's anthem at the seat of government, but Rasbach says the claim is "an outright lie," according to O'Neil.
Rasbach said he was told that the performance of our national songs was a "demonstration," and was therefore not allowed in the Capitol.
Later, police responded and said there was a "miscommunication," and that they were not aware that the House Speaker's office had given the performance the green light. They said the police "were not aware that the Speaker’s Office had approved this performance."
Of the incident, which happened on May 26, Rasbach said "I was shocked, I was dismayed, I was stunned." Rasbach is also the founder of the choir. "I couldn't believe that was happening," he told O'Neil, "that they would stop the national anthem of all songs."
It is absolutely shocking that children would be silenced for celebrating their nation at the US Capitol, right outside the doors of the people's House of Representatives, the one place in the country where patriotism should not only be permitted but encouraged.
Certainly, the Star Spangled Banner is more than allowed by Trump and those who attend his rallies, but welcomed with open hearts and open arms.
