Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American History Museum: report
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has erased all references to President Trump from an impeachment exhibit display.
Orders to remove an impeachment reference to the commander-in-chief in the exhibit, “A Glorious Burden”, came as part of a recent content review, triggered by mounting pressure from the White House to make changes to the arts institution, according to a source familiar withThe Washington Post.
The president was impeached twice during his first term in office, the first due to being accused of breaking the law by pressuring Ukraine’s leader to dig up damaging information on the Biden family.
The second impeachment came after he was charged with “incitement of insurrection” regarding the deadly storming of Congress on January 6, 2021.
In each case, he was acquitted on all counts by the Senate. In both votes, the Republican party held the majority.
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum complex, consisting of 21 museums, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
In May, Trump called for the firing of Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., labelling her a supporter of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, and claiming she was unsuitable for the role.
She resigned from her post just two weeks later, following the president’s criticism on Truth Social.
“Her replacement will be named shortly. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote.
Sajet had led the gallery “with passion and creativity” for 12 years, according to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Lonnie Bunch, who wrote the resignation memo.
Trump’s crackdown on the arts came in tandem with his March executive order that called for the removal of “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from the network of Smithsonian museums, The Wall Street Journal reported.
However, even prior to the order, the Smithsonian canceled its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to comply with Trump’s anti-DEI vision in January.
The latest change sees the removal of a temporary label that described Trump’s impeachment, notices that had been on display since September 2021.
The museum has now placed a 2008 label on the exhibit, stating that “only three presidents have seriously faced removal,” referring to Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon, according to The Post. Nixon would have faced impeachment had he not resigned.
The Smithsonian released a statement after the report that said, “a future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments.”
“In reviewing our legacy content recently, it became clear that the ‘Limits of Presidential Power’ section in The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden exhibition needed to be addressed,” the spokesperson told The Post.
They explained that the section of the exhibition covered Congress, the Supreme Court, Impeachment, and Public Opinion, noting that the change was necessary because “other topics in this section had not been updated since 2008.”
The institution said it was appropriate to restore the impeachment case to its 2008 appearance.
Trump’s intervention in the arts space follows a string of incidents where he has sought to alter cultural institutions to align with MAGA values.
In February, he usurped the position of chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. – a hub lauded for its bipartisan approach.
“NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA”, he wrote on Truth Social at the time.
MAGA has long been particularly critical of the center, and Republicans have now proposed a bill to rename the center after Trump.
The Independent contacted the White House and the Smithsonian for comment.
