‘Hamilton’ Actor Brandon Victor Dixon Responds To A Miffed Trump: ‘Conversation Is Not Harassment’

After a long Broadway weekend, Hamilton star Brandon Victor Dixon (who plays Aaron Burr) stopped by CBS Morning to discuss the weekend’s biggest political story. Indeed, Mike Pence’s Friday night visit began with audience boos and ended with a cast lecture, which was delivered by Dixon on behalf of a production that celebrates accomplishments of immigrants. He told the morning show crew that Donald Trump’s demand for an apology (while claiming that Pence had been “harassed”) would go unheeded.

The actor repeated a sentiment that he recently tweeted: “Conversation is not harassment.” Dixon also noted that he wasn’t sure why producers chose him to read the statement to Pence, but he was “honored” to do so. And he reveals that Lin-Manuel Miranda had a hand in writing the statement, along with other producers:

“The producers, the creatives and the cast, we recognize that Hamilton is inherently an American story told by the definition of the American community — we are men and women of different colors, creeds, and orientations — and the resonate nature of the show throughout the world, throughout the global community, demands that we make statements when there are important issues facing us as a community. So we wanted to stand up and spread a message of love, and of unity.”

In conclusion, Dixon said that Trump was welcome to watch the production and visit backstage. While that doesn’t seem likely to occur at this stage, stranger things have happened (Trump is about to be president, y’all). Meanwhile, an old tweet from Ivanka Trump is making the rounds. She saw the musical without incident in March and adored it.

Mike Pence has maintained that he was not offended by the cast’s address to him, but many Trump supporters are very upset. One of them disrupted the show’s Saturday night performance in Chicago, and still others have called for a boycott against a show that boasts a two-year wait on tickets.