The parent organization of a highly regarded history museum in the United States has refuted allegations that political pressure led to the removal of a display about US President Donald Trump’s impeachments.
The National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, the Smithsonian Institution announced on Saturday that it had removed the “temporary” placard because it had failed to adhere to the museum’s “appearance, location, timeline, and overall presentation” requirements.
It “abhorred the view of the objects inside its case” and was incongruent with other sections of the exhibit. We removed the placard because of these reasons, the organization stated in a statement.
No administration or other government officials ever asked us to take any of the content out of the exhibit.
The impeachment section of the museum will be updated in the coming weeks to “reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history,” according to the Smithsonian Institution, which manages 21 museums and the National Zoo.
The museum removed a direct reference to Trump’s impeachments last month, according to The Washington Post’s report on Thursday, which led to the museum’s incorrect statement that “only three presidents have seriously faced removal.”
According to an unnamed source with knowledge of the exhibit plans, the Smithsonian conducted a “content review that the White House requested in response to pressure to remove an art museum director.”
The museum’s decision to remove the exhibit drew swift opposition, with Trump’s supporters claiming that it was the most recent capitulation to the dictates of an authoritarian leader.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday, “You can run, but you can’t hide from the judgment of history.”
The American people will never forget that you were impeached, not once, but twice, according to my message to the president.
As part of his transformative “Make America Great Again” campaign, Trump has accelerated to more direct control over government, media, and cultural institutions.
The US president signed an executive order in March to end “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian Institution’s facilities and prevent funding for exhibits that “degrade shared American values” or “divide Americans based on race.”
Trump faced two House of Representatives impeachments during his first term, in 2019 and 2021, but the Senate found him guilty on both counts.
He was the only US president to have twice been impeached, joining Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as the third US president to have done so.
Source: Aljazeera
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