On Sunday, President Obama took indirect jabs at Donald Trump in a much-praised commencement speech. On Monday, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the “Hamilton” star and creator, delivered thinly-veiled criticism in an equally riveting address at the University of Pennsylvania.
Miranda’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical celebrates the life of an immigrant, Alexander Hamilton, and the founding father’s role in the creation of the American financial system. In his commencement speech, Miranda stressed the contributions of immigrants to the U.S. and blasted current “anti-immigrant” rhetoric.
“In a year when politicians traffic in anti-immigrant rhetoric, there is also a Broadway musical reminding us that a broke, orphan immigrant from the West Indies built our financial system,” Miranda said. “A story that reminds us that since the beginning of the great, unfinished symphony that is our American experiment, time and time again, immigrants get the job done.”
He didn’t mention any politicians by name, but Trump has called for building a wall to keep out Mexicans and also proposed banning Muslims from entering the U.S.
When Miranda defended immigration to the US, students and Penn President Amy Gutmann rose and gave him a standing ovation.
Watch the speech here:
Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany graduated from the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday, and Trump attended yesterday’s graduation ceremony. But according to Fox News, Trump wasn’t expected to attend today’s address.