Kennedy Center for the Arts, the audience rang out in a symphony of boos as Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance took their seats. All eyes were on the couple as they settled into the box tiers of the storied venue — 20 minutes late due to added security — for the National Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.

Interim president Richard Grenell, a Trump ally, in a staff email condemned a chorus of boos that met the vice president and his wife at a concert Thursday night.