President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to put up signs highlighting a report that concluded the country’s leading cultural center put ideological bias over historical facts.
The 162-page report from the White House’s Domestic Policy Council was released earlier this month, and it wrote that “ideological capture has moved the Museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.”
In response, Trump ordered Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the National Park Service, which maintains the sidewalks outside the museum, to point visitors to the report on temporary signage along walkways that lead to the museum, in addition to signage above each entrance that reads: “Warning: the exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don’t want you to love your country.”
The signage will correct “inaccurate information presented in the Museum” and direct visitors to “locations and resources for accurate information regarding America’s history,” according to Trump.
The move comes as the president and his team have long targeted the Smithsonian Institution, which receives roughly two-thirds of its approximately $1 billion annual budget through federal appropriations, over concerns it puts leftist ideology over an accurate portrayal of U.S. history.
In March, Trump directed Vice President JD Vance and the Domestic Policy Council to “remove improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums and suggest “actions necessary to fully effectuate such policies.” Through an executive order, he targeted funding for programs that advanced “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.”
Earlier this week, Smithsonian National Museum of American History director Anthea Hartig was pressed by Republicans on several exhibits at the institution, including one lawmakers said suggested Mickey Mouse was racist, and concerns about children engaging with a sexually explicit LGBT exhibit that displayed a “crotch harness” in the “Illegal to be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall” exhibit.
Hartig defended the institution and clapped back against the July 4 White House report.
“As we continue to fact-check the report, we unwaveringly attest that it does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum,” she told lawmakers. “There is always room for improvement. But I also know the beauty and the inspiration and the expertise that lies in our collections, our exhibits, and our programming.”
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Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch also defended the institution in comments to NBC News earlier this month, arguing that the White House’s July 4 report writing that the White House’s report “is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History.”
“At the Smithsonian, our work is driven by scholarship, accuracy and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America’s story,” Bunch wrote. The institution remains “focused on what grounds us: a steadfast commitment to scholarship, nonpartisanship, independence, accuracy, and integrity.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
