“The Great American State Fair” is a series of concerts, exhibits, tributes and other programs scheduled to take place June 25 to July 10 on Washington’s National Mall. It was organized by Freedom 250, which is billed as a nonpartisan organization but was launched last year by President Donald Trump and is headed by a Trump State Department appointee from his first term, the businessman-philanthropist Keith Krach.
On Wednesday, Freedom 250 announced that Bret Michaels, the Commodores and Martina McBride would be among the musical performers, some of whom were slated for an “I Love the ’90s” show on June 26.
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FILE - Martina McBride performs, Oct. 28, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
FILE - Young MC performs during the "I Love The 90's" tour on Aug. 7, 2022, at RiverEdge Park in Aurora, Ill. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 26, 1992 file photo, Fabrice Morvan, left, and Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli perform during the taping of the Arsenio Hall Show in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Craig Fujii, File)
FILE - Singer Brett Michaels performs at halftime of an NFL football game between the Detroit Lions and the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz., Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
But by late Thursday, Michaels, the Commodores and McBride had dropped out, as did Morris Day and Young MC.
Michaels and others have said that they were misled about the theme of the shows or were otherwise wary of being caught up in a political fight. In an Instagram post, Michaels wrote that he had thought his show would be a chance to “honor our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life.” But he concluded that the event had “evolved into something much more divisive” and referred to “threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable.”
McBride also issued an Instagram statement, saying she had been “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.” Young MC expressed similar sentiments in an Instagram post, while the Commodores released a brief statement saying they chose “not to publicly affiliate with any single political party.”
As of Friday morning, performers still expected to appear include Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice and Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli, the Grammy-winning duo from the late 1980s-early 1990s who were discredited after reports that Morvan and fellow front man Rob Pilatus did not sing on the records and lip-synced on stage. (The actual singers, including sisters Jodie and Linda Rocco, told The Associated Press that they were not invited).
Morvan told the AP in an emailed statement that he was "here to entertain and unite people, not divide them.”
"Let’s celebrate life & music and take a trip down memory lane,” he said.
A representative for Vanilla Ice told the AP in an email that the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper was “proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!"
"Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate USA’s Birthday and our Freedom!” the representative said.
A Flo Rida representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Freedom 250 organizers have yet to respond to AP requests for comment. Freedom 250 spokeswoman Rachel Reisner told The New York Times in a statement that “Freedom 250 is focused on our signature celebrations and events that honor our history and engage all Americans.”
Trump, a Republican, has some prominent supporters in the entertainment industry, including Sylvester Stallone and Nicki Minaj, but many more have shunned him. Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro,Billie Eilish and Bruce Springsteen are among those who have endorsed Democrats and/or condemned Trump, while Elton John, Kenny Loggins and others have objected to their music being used for Trump rallies or Trump videos. After the president ousted the leadership last year at the Kennedy Center and had his own name placed on the building’s facade, numerous artists, including Bela Fleck, Renée Fleming and Issa Rae, called off scheduled appearances.
FILE - Martina McBride performs, Oct. 28, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
FILE - Young MC performs during the "I Love The 90's" tour on Aug. 7, 2022, at RiverEdge Park in Aurora, Ill. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 26, 1992 file photo, Fabrice Morvan, left, and Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli perform during the taping of the Arsenio Hall Show in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Craig Fujii, File)
FILE - Singer Brett Michaels performs at halftime of an NFL football game between the Detroit Lions and the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz., Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana lawmakers passed a new congressional map Friday designed to help Republicans pick up a seat while eliminating one of the state's two majority-Black House districts, both of which are represented by Democrats.
Approval of the new House map came a month after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s current map as an illegal racial gerrymander, weakening the landmark 1965 federal Voting Rights Act. That decision intensified a national redistricting battle fueled by President Donald Trump’s efforts to protect the Republicans’ slim House majority in the midterm elections. Louisiana is one of several Southern states now redrawing their maps to help Republicans.
Louisiana Republicans had considered drawing a map giving the party a shot at winning all six of the state’s U.S. House seats. But that would have required adding more Black voters to Republican-held districts, potentially backfiring with GOP losses.
The map approved Friday in a 28-10 state Senate vote reflected Republican arguments that a 5-1 map is safer for the GOP and better protects U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson from facing a difficult reelection. Republicans currently hold four of Louisiana's six congressional seats.
A half-hour Senate debate revolved around Democrats contending that the proposed map is racially gerrymandered to squeeze more Black voters — who tend to be registered Democrats — into a single district.
The bill's sponsor, Republican state Sen. Jay Morris, repeatedly insisted that party affiliation, not race, drove district boundaries.
“I purposely put more Democrats into District 2 to make the remaining districts better performing for Republicans,” Morris said at one point.
Morris said he told the map demographers to avoid including any data on race or including those statistics in information shared with lawmakers before the vote.
Democratic state Sen. Sam Jenkins told Morris, “I think it’s a racially gerrymandered district that's going to get us into a lot of trouble here."
“Agree to disagree,” Morris told Jenkins.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign the new map into law.
Louisiana is currently using a court-ordered map drawn in 2024 to comply with the Voting Rights Act by including a second district with a majority-Black population.
That map, however, was challenged in court, and the Supreme Court responded on April 30 by striking it down as an illegal racial gerrymander.
Landry postponed the state’s U.S. House primary, scheduled for May 16, until later this summer to allow time for Republican lawmakers to draw and pass a new map.
The proposed map redraws Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields' district, clustering it around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area and southern Louisiana. It also adds part of Baton Rouge to a heavily Democratic, majority-Black district based in New Orleans currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter.
More lawsuits were expected over the new map.
Democrats say the proposed map could draw a lawsuit over racial gerrymandering. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision criticized the Legislature's map earlier this week for leaving a majority-Black district in place.
“From the beginning of the process, I said we’re building a house on a broken foundation — now it feels more like quicksand,” Democratic state Sen. Royce Duplessis said during floor debate. “I’m really, really troubled by the fact that we’re going to continue to lead the charge in this race to the bottom.”
In the weeks following the Supreme Court’s decision, several other Republican-controlled Southern states have seized upon a weakened federal Voting Rights Act to try to redraw their own congressional districts.
So far, Republicans are winning the redistricting contest. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they will win a narrowly divided U.S. House in November. Republicans think they could gain as many as 15 seats from their redistricting efforts so far, while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new districts in California and Utah.
Florida’s Legislature passed new congressional districts just hours after the ruling, completing a redrawing that was in the works in anticipation of the decision. It could yield Republicans as many as four additional seats in the midterm elections.
Tennessee adopted new U.S. House districts a week after the ruling, carving up a majority-Black district based in Memphis in a Republican attempt to win an additional seat.
In Alabama, Republicans are attempting to pick up another seat by redrawing two districts where Black residents compose a majority or close to it. Democrats hold both seats, and the proposal is mired in a court battle.
South Carolina’s Senate, meanwhile, decided against redistricting, despite pressure from Trump.
Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Mary Anne Mushatt, of the League of Women Voters and the Orleans Parish Democratic Committee, right, hugs Rep. Tammy T. Phelps, D-District 3, after a redistricting plan to eliminate a majority-Black congressional district, in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, was passed by the House in Baton Rouge, La., Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A person opposed to the redistricting plan reacts as she leaves the Louisiana House chambers after the plan to eliminate a majority-Black congressional district, in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, was passed in Baton Rouge, La., Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Louisiana Rep. Gerald Beaullieu, IV, R-Dist 48, speaks prior to a Louisiana House vote on a redistricting plan to eliminate a majority-Black congressional district in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in Baton Rouge, La., Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Louisiana Rep. Kyle M. Green, Jr., D-Dist 83, speaks prior to a Louisiana House vote on a redistricting plan to eliminate a majority-Black congressional district in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in Baton Rouge, La., Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Louisiana Reps. Adrian Fisher, D-Dist 16, left, Chad Michael Boyer, R-Dist 46, and C. Travis Johnson, D-Dist 21, right, recite the pledge of allegiance prior to a house vote on a redistricting plan to eliminate a majority-Black congressional district in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in Baton Rouge, La., Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
