Lawmakers blast ‘woke’ Smithsonian exhibits
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas., joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss Republican lawmakers’ claims that the Smithsonian Museum is using its exhibits for left-wing activism instead of history.
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Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, threw his support behind President Donald Trump’s executive action targeting alleged ideological bias at the Smithsonian and called for museum officials to be fired over what he called left-wing influence at the institution.
Speaking on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Gill applauded Trump’s directive to place warning signs along National Park Service walkways outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
“This is the first time, I think, that we’ve had a president who takes this stuff seriously, who doesn’t just look the other way and allow the left to continue their long march through the institutions and continue shoving leftism down our throats and down the throats of our children,” Gill said. “I think that’s what is so refreshing about the president here.”
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National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig (left) was confronted by Rep. Brandon Gill (right), R-Texas, over the Smithsonian’s alleged extreme political ideology in its displays (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Al Drago/Getty Images)
On Friday, Trump signed an executive order directing officials to install signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History informing visitors about the White House report that criticized the museum’s portrayal of American history.
“Such signage shall notify visitors that the Museum exhibits should be renovated consistent with the findings in the Report and direct visitors to locations and resources for accurate information regarding America’s history,” according to the executive order on the White House website.
The order also calls for the creation of temporary exhibits or signage that “corrects inaccurate information presented in the Museum,” pointing to the museum’s alleged failure to properly commemorate America’s founding history during its 250th anniversary year.
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Gill echoed many of the administration’s critiques, calling for what he described as an objective telling of American history.
“We need an actual objective telling of American history, not [looking] back on the American story and grouping different people into racial or ethnic groups or groups based on their gender or their sexuality or their immigration status,” he said. “We are one American people, and I think that’s what we need to see.”
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, arrives for the House Oversight and Government Reform Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee hearing titled “Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian’s Efforts to Reshape the Past” in the Rayburn House Office Building on July 21, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The congressman argued the Smithsonian needed to “clean house,” specifically calling for National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig to be fired. Gill added that the American public is exhausted by watching taxpayer dollars fund ideological agendas.
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“The American people are so sick of seeing the left take control of iconic American institutions,” he said. “They want to see a museum that’s funded by taxpayers that is promoting patriotism, that promotes American ideals and values, and instead they get this kind of woke nonsense.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Smithsonian for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The controversy stems from the White House’s recent “Saving America’s Story” report. In the executive order, Trump said the report demonstrated that the museum’s leadership “does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”
Hartig defended the museum’s approach during a committee hearing earlier this week.
National Museum of American History Director Dr. Anthea Hartig is sworn in during an Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency hearing on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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“The museum does not take sides in America’s political debates. We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all its breadth so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions,” Hartig said.
“When historians talk about reframing a traditional narrative, we do not mean erasing it. We mean adding the evidence, voices and objects that earlier tellings left out so that more Americans can see themselves in the national story. Examining the harder chapters of our history is not the same as hostility toward America,” she said.