Shortly after the lineup for the “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall was announced, artists on the roster started to back out. President Donald Trump (also the developer of multiple golf courses) has accused them of getting the “yips.”
Those are involuntary muscle spasms that some golfers experience while they are trying to putt, according to the Mayo Clinic. It said the phenomenon can impact people who play other sports, such as cricket.
“I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance on Wednesday,” Trump said in a Saturday Truth Social post.
Martina McBride, C+C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, Young MC, The Commodores, Morris Day and the Tome, Flo Rida and Poison frontman Bret Michaels were announced Wednesday on the Great American State Fair website. Since then, McBride, Young MC, Morris Day and the Time, The Commodores and Michaels – a native of Butler, Pa., where Trump survived an assassination attempt while on the campaign trail in 2024 – have all dropped out.
Audacy station KDKA reported that McBride said she was assured the event was nonpartisan. However, she wrote that “things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening.”
Michaels also said that he pulled out because he felt the event was more divisive that what he initially signed on for.
“Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of,” he said.
Meanwhile Flo Rida is still expected to perform at the event, and Vanilla Ice stood by his decision to perform at the events, which are part of Freedom 250 events for the nation's 250th anniversary.
“Happy birthday America 250 years. It’s gonna be an epic party,” Robert Matthew Van Winkle (stage name Vanilla Ice) said in an Instagram post. “This is to bring us all together. I’m tired of all the news channels dividing this country. We are all one. This is not a political platform. This is celebrating America’s birthday. Nothing too serious just enjoying some fun, dancing and great memories. Hope you guys can join us.”
Other entertainers have performed at events linked with Trump, including Kid Rock and country musicians Brantley Gilbert, Gabby Barrett and Lee Brice at Turning Point’s “All-American Halftime Show” alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show earlier this year. However, it doesn’t seem like more musical acts are going to be slated to replace the ones who have dropped out.
“I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists,’ and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!” he said in the Saturday Truth Social post. He added that he is ordering his “Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location.”
