Nick is right. "Special interests" and "maneuvering" are inappropriate, slightly sneery ways to talk about a gigantic job sector that has been utterly devastated--especially because "Broadway actors" equals "already rich" to the uninformed. > https://twitter.com/westratenick/status/1285177859007553537">https://twitter.com/westraten...

A couple of facts: Broadway gigs are great when they come along, but most New York stage actors make their livings off-Broadway--the lucky ones. Sometimes the pay is a little over $1000 a week. Sometimes it& #39;s much less. Almost nobody gets work 52 weeks a year or close to it.>

Second: You know how a lot of actors supplement their incomes in order to feed themselves and their families when they don& #39;t have jobs on stage? By working in restaurants and bars, the other field that the pandemic has completely destroyed.>

Third: Saying "actors" is a way of not looking at the entire industry, because people love to think that acting is for pampered babies. That& #39;s dumb, but also: Designers. Musicians. Ushers. Ticket sellers. Set movers. Union crew. Costumers. Electricians. Theater is a huge field.>

So what "special interests...maneuvering" conveys is one of two things: Either a very powerful lobby (this lead literally compares theater workers to MILITARY CONTRACTORS!) or artsy-fartsy slackers who want handouts. Both of which couldn& #39;t be further from the truth.>

Last: Trump hates the arts. To the arthritic hamster that runs his brain, they& #39;re one more thing that& #39;s mean to him, centered in cities he& #39;ll never win. He pushes for arts defunding every year. So labeling them "special interests" allows him to shrug away more middle-class lives.