Thom Tillis calls “abolishing or demolishing” the Kennedy Center “absurd” and worrying about its name “kind of silly”
Thom TillisUnited States Senator for North Carolina, answering reporters’ questions on Capitol Hill
Asked by a reporter on Capitol Hill whether he would support the president’s apparent speculation about the Kennedy Center’s future, Senator Thom Tillis said “I think it’s absurd” and went on to refer to “abolishing or demolishing a memorial.” In the same answer he said “these are distractions we don’t need” and called worrying about what the building is named “kind of silly.”
“I think it’s absurd. Abolishing or demolishing a memorial [...] a worldwide known venue for arts.”
Original video
Reporting
Reporting
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Where this statement fits
Should Donald Trump link the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration?
On September 15, 2026, a federal judge barred the Kennedy Center board, chaired by Donald Trump, from inscribing "renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump" on its main building or renaming the grounds for him. The board then voted to close the main building, and Trump posted that renovation "cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board's approved name" and "will not take place" if that ruling is negative and not overturned. In Charlotte on September 16 he said the administration "should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down." The White House says the center will "inevitably continue to decline" without his intervention; Rep. Joyce Beatty's lawyers wrote that Trump said "if he is not recognized on the building, it will close and be ripped down." The dispute is over whether the renovation should depend on recognition for Trump's administration and what his remarks mean.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Forbes Breaking News's upload (3:31) of the hallway exchange, with an on-screen stamp "SEPTEMBER 17, 2026" and the lower third "SEN. THOM TILIS (R-NC) SPEAKS TO REPORTERS ON CAPITOL HILL" (the lower third misspells his surname). The quoted wording is our transcription of the video audio, checked in independent passes. The video starts at the reporter's question, so anything earlier in the scrum is not shown. Between "memorial" and "a worldwide known venue" the recording has hesitation fillers and one indistinct word (CNN's rush transcript has "want --"); that stretch is omitted and marked [...].
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
CNN rush transcript (“may not be in its final form”) of the clip CNN aired at 7 p.m. ET on September 17. It carries the same opening sentences as the Forbes recording, renders the hesitation as “want --” and adds “like that” after “arts”, and skips the middle of the answer. Used to confirm that the sentence about demolition was part of the answer CNN aired.
Reporting
About this source
CNN rush transcript of an edited clip. The excerpt omits the reporter’s question and the sentence naming demolition, so on its own it reads as if “absurd” were aimed at the naming dispute; the Forbes recording and CNN’s 7 p.m. transcript show it follows a question about demolishing the center.
Reporting
About this source
AP report as syndicated by WCCB Charlotte (published 2026-09-17 21:15 UTC). AP attributes the “false crisis” and “kind of silly” language to Tillis and does not quote his sentence about demolition.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The previous evening, President Trump told reporters in Charlotte that the Trump administration “should certainly have recognition” and, in the same answer, used the phrase “ripped down” about the center; AFP photographs from that night showed him looking at a poster that appears to read “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.” On September 17 a reporter on Capitol Hill asked Tillis whether he would support the president’s apparent speculation about the center’s future.
After the quotation
Asked in a follow-up whether the Kennedy Center needs an independent board, Tillis said “I think there’s something to be said for that.” CNN aired portions of the exchange that evening, and the Associated Press reported him calling the dispute a “false crisis.”
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Asked by a reporter whether he would support the president’s apparent speculation about the center’s future, Tillis answers “I think it’s absurd” about “abolishing or demolishing a memorial” and adds that worrying about the name is “kind of silly,” which rejects the outcome he names and treats the naming dispute as beside the point. The closest competing label is minimizes, because he also calls the naming dispute a distraction. That loses because his operative words answer the reporter’s question with an express rejection, which criticizes the position rather than downplaying its seriousness.
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- Donald Trump
More from this case
Read the full caseSheldon Whitehouse says Trump appointees' conduct is hard to square with the board's fiduciary duty
“Not easy to see how any of this behavior of Trump appointees comports with the board’s fiduciary duty to the Center.”Read statement
Dechicchis criticizes putting recognition ahead of improvements
“In Trump’s mind, if he doesn’t get the recognition he feels he deserves, there’s no point in continuing improvements on the center.”Read statement
Kerry Kennedy says Congress already funded the Kennedy Center's restoration and tells Trump "That's not your job"
“this is the memorial created by the United States Congress to a slain president. So, putting Trump's name on it would be like renaming the Washington Monument the Trump Washington Monument or the Trump Lincoln Memorial or the Trump Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. ... And their argument is they're not -- there is not money for it. But in the Big Beautiful Bill, they -- the Congress passed $246 million in order to restore the Kennedy Center. So that's just not true. ... So President Trump, do your job. Focus on the people's pain and the work that you're supposed to do in the -- in the Oval Office and not on the Kennedy Center. That's not your job.”Read statement
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- Thom Tillis calls “abolishing or demolishing” the Kennedy Center “absurd” and worrying about its name “kind of silly”
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The Dispute Index. "Thom Tillis calls “abolishing or demolishing” the Kennedy Center “absurd” and worrying about its name “kind of silly”". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1189-asked-by-a-reporter-on-capitol-hill-whether