“The cast of Hamilton was rude to a very good man” tweeted Donald Trump after the cast of said show asked the US president-elect’s running-mate Mike Pence, who was sitting in the audience, to “uphold our American values” (Broadside against Broadway: Trump attacks ‘overrated’ Hamilton cast for voicing fears, 21 November). The fatuous Trump insisted it was “insulting” of Hamilton’s cast “to treat our great future VP to a theatre lecture”.
What this incident shows is that Trump is like every bully that has ever thrown his weight around a playground – he can dish it out but he can’t take it. Trump’s whole campaign was offensive, bad-mannered and disrespectful – especially toward Muslims, Mexicans and black people, whom he abused in the most disgusting terms. He can expect people to respond in kind.
If Trump thinks the mild rebuke Pence received was “insulting” he will find the next four years an eye-opener. Trump and the nest of bigots he is assembling into an administration may well have power but they will never have respect.
Sasha Simic
London
• Hamilton: An American Musical taps in to the US psyche. It tells the story of how founding father Alexander Hamilton forged America’s identity through the free market. How appropriate that the next US vice-president, Mike Pence, should want to see it before taking office.
“Will you protect diverse America?” pleaded the cast. They may have a point. At best, Pence has not supported LGBT rights, and he has actively opposed equal marriage. Yet Hamilton was gay. His love affair with John Laurens under other – less homophobic – circumstances would be one of the great love stories of all time. It is likely that Hamilton’s decision to die in his duel with Aaron Burr was because he was heartbroken. Let’s hope Pence heeds the concerns of the show’s cast, but also becomes enlightened by the play’s unstated message. Denying LGBT people full equality demeans us all.
Jonathan Cooper
Doughty Street Chambers
• If the Queen could cope with Nicolae Ceaușescu, she’ll be able to cope with a visit from Donald Trump (Report, 21 November). There’s that upper-class English way of smiling and sneering, ever so slightly, at the same time.
Bridget Gubbins
Morpeth, Northumberland
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