Donald Trump followed through with his promise to headline the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C.
The president, 80, was likely betting that his appearance would be the most viral takeaway of the night, but instead, everyone is talking about a supporting act.
During his June 24 speech, Trump told the crowd gathered on the National Mall, “Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world, and we’re respected by everybody. Nobody’s laughing at us anymore.”
Yet, an embarrassing story is playing out on social media.
Opening night seemed doomed weeks before the June 24 kickoff as multiple artists were reluctant to join the concert lineup. The celebration of America’s 250th birthday runs through July 10 and includes several events to showcase patriotism.
The Commodores, Milli Vanilli, country music superstar Martina McBride, and others all backed out of performances.
The first attempt to get the show back on track involved Trump becoming the headliner. The second effort was the promise that attendees could overlook “America’s Front Yard” on the Freedom 250 Ferris Wheel.
Then Trump needed a favor, and he knew where to look within his administration for help.
He tapped FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, to bulk up the otherwise shallow musical lineup featuring Lee Greenwood delivering a rendition of “God Bless the U.S.A.”
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“Who? Who’s that?” an X user tweeted, reacting to the addition of Wilkins. A second humiliating blow read, “The term ‘A list’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.”
The latter dig was a response to someone posting, “Trump finally landed an A-list artist to perform at his ‘Great American State Fair’….Kash Patel’s girlfriend.”
Wilkins, 27, wore a white pantsuit for the occasion. She performed with the U.S. Marine Band. Her closed eyes and head tilted back gave off the impression that she was belting out the song, but only strained ears could hear her voice.
“I had to put up my volume up to max on my phone coz I couldn’t hear her ‘sensational’ voice. Instant regret,” a critic scoffed.
Three others remarked, “She’s not bad, but it sounds like they handed her a mic that wasn’t on,” to “I’m gonna guess the low microphone volume was intentional,” and “That’s lip-synching.”
The more people gawked at her big moment, the more frustrated they became. For instance, multiple critics noticed the safety measures that separated stage acts from the crowd.
Someone observing the clear partition asked, “Why are our tax dollars paying for protection for this basic singer?”
“WHY IS SHE BEHIND BULLET PROOF GLASS,” a second individual exclaimed.
The topic of tax dollars was especially triggering for those still fuming over a House investigation that revealed Patel used government funds to provide his girlfriend with a security detail and allowed her to travel to a singing gig on a department jet.
An IG Threads user wrote, “I hope she donated her time. We know we had to pay for her transportation and secret service detail.”
A tweet read, “How many millions was she paid for that?”
Wilkins defended herself against similar allegations before the performance. She told hecklerls, “I’m no longer accepting false narratives and total sham accusations that diminish my hard work and earned accomplishments.”
She also denied that she was compensated and that the Freedom 250 celebration was “taxpayer funded.”
