Kerry Kennedy tells CNN the Kennedy Center closure is 'hostage taking by the president of the United States'
President of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center and niece of President John F. Kennedy, as a guest in an interview on CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
“The court said you can't put your name on it. Then, all of a sudden, it's bankrupt, but all of a sudden, if his name is on it, it's got $256 million in the bank. So, this is not an issue of bankruptcy. This is hostage-taking by the president of the United States.”
Source and context
Original video
About this source
CNN's own 3:21 clip of the Erin Burnett OutFront interview (page stamped 8:47 PM EDT, Tue Sept. 15, 2026). Audio downloaded with yt-dlp (CNN extractor, HLS audio) and transcribed with mlx-whisper large-v3-turbo; the quoted words match CNN's rush transcript apart from punctuation. The clip stops before the measles exchange.
Interview
About this source
CNN's rush transcript (may not be in final form) of the full hour, read through the whole Kennedy Center segment. The punctuation of the quotation follows this transcript (hyphenated 'hostage-taking'; a comma after 'bankrupt'), and the words were confirmed against the audio.
Reporting
About this source
ABC News's report of the CNN interview (page dated September 16, 2026, 2:19 PM). It prints the sentence without CNN's hyphen and orders her quotes differently from the broadcast; its paraphrase of Trump's post is ABC's own characterization and is not adopted. Used as a second source for the quote, date and her title.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
On September 15, 2026, a federal judge barred the Kennedy Center board from adding a tribute to Trump on the building or site, the board voted to close the center, and Trump posted on Truth Social that the renovation and reconstruction could not begin until the D.C. Circuit rules on the board's approved name. On CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront at about 7:20 PM ET, Burnett cited that post, said the board says the center faces fiscal collapse within weeks unless Trump's name is added, and asked Kennedy whether she would rather the center stay closed or reopen with his name on it.
After the quotation
Burnett then turned to Kennedy's brother, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and to measles. According to ABC News, fencing was installed around the main building's entrance on September 16 and lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty asked a federal judge that day for an emergency hearing on the closure.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Donald Trump's statements linking the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case's fixed reference point is President Trump's stated position that the Kennedy Center's closure and renovation depend on recognition for his administration, as expressed in his 2026-09-15 Truth Social post. Asked whether she would rather the center stay closed or reopen with Trump's name on it, Kennedy says the court barred his name, the center is then called bankrupt but would have money 'if his name is on it', and concludes 'This is hostage-taking by the president of the United States', an express rejection of tying the center's fate to his name. The closest competing label is challenges_characterization, because she also disputes the bankruptcy premise ('this is not an issue of bankruptcy'). That loses because she goes on to condemn the linkage itself rather than only disputing how the situation is described.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Donald Trump
Donald Trump's statements linking the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“I keep wondering how insecure, how narcissistic, how egomaniacal you have to be to say you'll demolish a building if they don't put your name on it.”Read statement
“Donald Trump has spent countless hours on ridiculous vanity projects instead of trying to tackle the sky-high cost of living or ending his failed war in Iran, and now he's threatening to tear down the Kennedy Center just because he can't slap his name on it. It's sad, shallow, and a disgrace to the institution which by law honors our 35th president. We will continue fighting this obsession and defend this national cultural center in Congress and the courts”Read statement
“I don't mind doing the job, but if I do the job, I think the Trump administration, including Bobby, but the Trump administration should be recognized. Why should I raise and put up and do all of this work?”Read statement