Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed renaming the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as being among his top priorities, breaking his silence weeks after the institution’s board added President Trump’s name to the historic building.
Mr. Kennedy, nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, was asked Thursday by CBS News whether he understood the anger from his family members.
Several members of the Kennedy family have publicly criticized the name change, as Mr. Kennedy moved to distance himself from their outspoken outrage.
“Of course, I understand it, but I have bigger fish to fry,” he said. “If we lose any children in this country to obesity, heart disease — 77% of our kids can’t qualify for the military. Saving one life is more important to me than the name on a building.”
When asked whether he took issue with the name change, he said his focus remains on “making America healthy again.”
Jack Schlossberg, the only grandson of JFK and a congressional hopeful, said the change would be illegal, while former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Massachusetts Democrat, said the center “can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial.”
Kerry Kennedy, the health secretary’s sister, vowed to pull Mr. Trump’s name off the building herself once he leaves office.
“Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder,” she wrote on social media.
The Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees voted to rename the performing arts institution last month.
The health secretary said he was not involved in the decision and did not advise on the name change.
While White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the board had voted “unanimously” to change the name, Rep. Joyce Beatty, who serves as an ex officio member of the center’s board of directors, said she was muted on the call where the vote took place.
The Ohio Democrat has sued Mr. Trump to force the removal of his name from the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The lawsuit argues that the addition of the president’s name is a “flagrant violation” of the law because Congress fixed the name as the Kennedy Center and never authorized any change.
