Trump’s ‘Les Misérables’ obsession is rich with irony

A military band played "One Day More" from "Les Misérables" at Donald Trump's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday, and Jacob Soboroff and Sarah Haskins of MS NOW see irony in it. The song celebrates ordinary people rising against forces that oppress them, yet it was performed for the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, which The Economist reports has censored songs from the musical because of their link to Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters.

Trump is a devoted Broadway fan, they note. Former press secretary Stephanie Grisham's tell-all describes staff in his first term keeping "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera" music on hand to soothe him. He has also played show tunes at rallies, including "One Day More." Last June, he attended "Les Misérables" at the Kennedy Center while protests over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge were spreading nationwide. Beforehand, asked whether he related more to the ex-convict Jean Valjean or the lawman Javert, Trump called it a "tough" question.

They argue this matters because the arts build empathy and show that treatment of the powerless defines a society. The musical questions a society that jails Valjean for 19 years over stolen bread; today, they say, the question is whether the country cages innocent children. Trump, in their view, is neither Valjean nor Javert but the innkeeper "Master of the House," who cheats customers, lies, and changes sides for profit.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →