Freedom Fest — a MAGA event featuring 55-year-old anti-LGBTQ+ musician Kid Rock — has been canceled after selling just six $1,000 VIP tickets to the otherwise free event. The event was set to feature 68-year-old US House candidate Ed Gallrein (R-KY), 54-year-old Rep. James Comer (R-KY), and transphobic 55-year-old Fox News contributor Joe Concha.
Eric Deters — the organizer who has previously hosted the event on his Morning View, Kentucky farm — announced the event’s cancellation in a now-deleted Facebook video that he posted on Monday; the event was scheduled to be held on September 26). “I am never ever, ever, ever, ever doing this event again,” Deters said in the video, Newsweek reported. He had previously called the event the “best MAGA event” in the nation.
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Deters said he expected 100 wealthy acquaintances and business contacts to support the event by purchasing the VIP tickets. But then he discovered that only six people had purchased them, making the event financially unsustainable.
“I want to tell you something: Rich people, as a whole, suck,” he said. “Out of all these people that have money that I interact with, who I do favors for all day long. They ask me for something…. I never said no to these people…. None of these people will ever, ever, ever get a favor from me again, ever.”
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Kid Rock is outspokenly anti-LGBTQ+; Gallrein opposes transgender civil rights; Comer voted against the Equality Act, legislation to create federal LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections; and Concha has mocked the LGBTQ+ acronym and opposes trans youth playing sports and acquiring gender-affirming care.
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