Years later, however, in May 2022, Simmons seemingly likened Trump's camp to "cockroaches" and said he was "out for himself" when speaking to SPIN. "Look what that gentleman [Trump] did to this country and the polarization — got all the cockroaches to rise to the top," the singer said at the time.

This is the first Kennedy Center Honors since President Trump took over as chairman of the prestigious institution and pledged to turn it in a more conservative direction