MaddowBlog-Trump complains that 'woke' Smithsonian focuses on 'how bad slavery was'
The president’s campaign against the Smithsonian Institution was already indefensible. With new false and weird claims, it’s suddenly even worse.
Just when it seemed Trump’s offensive against the Smithsonian couldn’t get more ridiculous, he started whining today about its museums focusing on “how bad Slavery was.†www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-19T20:24:20.849Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-complains-woke-smithsonian-focuses-bad-slavery-was-rcna225924
Trump voiced outrage this afternoon in a post on Truth Social about the types of exhibits shown in the Smithsonian and other museums across the country. ‘The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE.’ The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,’ he said.
.....The harangue comes just days after Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, falsely claimed that Smithsonian exhibits have “clearly been taken over by leftwing activists” who have “obscenely defaced this beloved institution.”....
What’s more, the idea that exhibits talks about “how bad Slavery was” necessarily leads to questions about which parts of slavery the president believes weren’t “bad.”.....
Over the course of seven months, Trump has taken steps to exert unusual influence and control over everything from the economy to higher education, the judiciary to the media, private businesses to nonprofit organizations, the military to cultural institutions, labor unions to law enforcement, health care to sports teams, independent federal agencies to banks, the legal profession to the entertainment industry.
The president is now making it painfully clear that he has museums in his sights, too.
= new reply since forum marked as read
they should have one talking about how good it was. I mean, fair is fair.
Making America great again means going back to a time where racial discrimination and oppression was okay. Now trump wants to make America great again by bringing back slavery. trump wants to make America hate again
Link to tweet
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-smithsonian-portray-americas-brightness-bad-slavery/story
"The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been -- Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future," Trump wrote on his social media platform.
"We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made," Trump added. "This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE. We have the 'HOTTEST' Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our Museums."
The Smithsonian declined to comment.
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