Longtime inauguration announcer dropped by Trump gives extremely sad interview to CNN
And the announcer is not happy about it.
Charlie Brotman, 89, talked to CNN on Monday about the snub.
"I believe the word is probably 'traumatized,'" Brotman told CNN. "I was in shock. And I really felt terrible."
Brotman told CNN in an earlier interview that he was informed via email that he wouldn't be announcing Trump's inauguration.
"I got the shock of my life," he said. "I felt like Muhammad Ali had hit me in the stomach."
Brotman said he was "disappointed" because he thought he would be the announcer.
"Then when I read the email I thought I was going to commit suicide," he said. "It was really terrible. I know that I've been doing it for 60 years and nobody has ever asked whether I'm a Democrat, Republican, independent."
Washington, DC-based freelance announcer Steve Ray will announce Trump's inaugural parade in Brotman's place. Brotman told CNN that he believed Trump owed Ray a favor and that's why he got picked. Ray volunteered for the Trump campaign.
Brotman will still be a part of the inauguration - Trump's team has named Brotman "announcer chairman emeritus" and he has been offered a prime seat at the parade, according to The Washington Post.