CNN's Jennings says same critics of Trump's Smithsonian review were cheering destruction of monuments in 2020
The Trump administration is scrutinizing the Smithsonian Institution ahead of America's 250th anniversary celebration next year, requiring specific national museums and affiliated exhibits to "reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story." The largely federally funded museum has been scrutinized in recent years for politically charged materials, such as criticizing "White dominant culture."
In a letter penned to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, Trump administration officials laid out a review process that the institution will undergo in order to ensure alignment with President Donald Trump's "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" executive order and remove "divisive or partisan narratives" in America's shared cultural institutions.
CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip was sharply divided over the move, with Jennings arguing that for America's upcoming 250th anniversary, "It is of vital interest and importance to the White House that this celebration be pro-America."
Panelists proceeded to debate whether the choice to emphasize America's accomplishments and exceptionalism is an act of erasure or of emphasis, with one panelist arguing that when one views the National Air and Space Museum, they naturally would expect to see more focus on America's Moon landing rather than the Challenger shuttle disaster of 1986.
"This is very Russia-coded," commentator S.E. Cupp argued, comparing this review to Russian overhauls of Ukrainian museums. She was later pressed on whether monuments depicting Italian explorer Christopher Columbus should be taken down and replied, "Well I'm Italian, I'm proud of Columbus."
"Yeah, the last time we sort of talked about the changing of historical exhibits was when all these angry mobs all over the country tore down historical statues all over the place, and the people who seem to be angriest about the Smithsonian review were cheering that on," Jennings argued.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla, challenged him, accusing Jennings of refusing to condemn politicians for "editing our history." In return, Jennings rejected the idea that politicians were doing so.
America has been sharply divided in recent years over how to teach history to younger generations.
One major example was the 1619 project, an initiative by The New York Times' Nikole Hannah-Jones, which purports that 1619, the year the first enslaved Africans were brought to what would later become the United States, should be considered the true founding year of the country. The project's materials were integrated into school curriculums across the country and treated as a factual historical narrative, despite the fact it was challenged by historians for inaccuracies.
In the past few years, particularly after statutes of Confederate leaders had sparked controversy or been dismantled, a move praised by Democrats, protesters went on to vandalize other figures from American history, such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant.
Years after Trump condemned protesters for attempting to take down a statute of President Andrew Jackson in the nation's capital, Democrats pushed the Andrew Jackson Statue Removal Act to try to have it taken down by the federal government.
New York City politician and Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani recently faced scrutiny in July for appearing to call for the destruction of a statue of Columbus. When riots took place across the country following George Floyd's death, Mamdani posted a photo of what appears to be his hand flipping off a statue of Christopher Columbus and said "Take it down."
In July 2020, the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture released a controversial graphic showing guidelines for talking about race which vilified the "Aspects and assumptions of Whiteness and White culture in the United States." These ranged from the largely Anglo-protestant values of American settlers such as "rugged individualism" to emphasizing "Barbie" as the essence of female beauty to White people.
In what was widely mocked as patronizing to Black Americans, it was also argued that to believe in "delayed gratification," to "plan for the future," to practice "rational linear thinking," and to "follow rigid time schedules" are also specifically White American values.
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