{"id":2633734,"date":"2026-07-22T15:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/terri-sewell-compares-trumps-scrutiny-of-smithsonian-to-fascism\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T15:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:09:04","slug":"terri-sewell-compares-trumps-scrutiny-of-smithsonian-to-fascism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/terri-sewell-compares-trumps-scrutiny-of-smithsonian-to-fascism\/","title":{"rendered":"Terri Sewell compares Trump\u2019s scrutiny of Smithsonian to \u2018fascism\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fterri-sewell-compares-trumps-scrutiny-of-smithsonian-to-fascism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2633734&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A house Democrat compared the White House\u2019s investigation into the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s portrayal of American history to an Orwellian takeover by a fascist government.Rep. Terri Sewell criticized President Trump\u2019s executive order aimed at &#8220;restoring truth&#8221; to the Smithsonian\u2019s narratives, accusing the administration of attempting to control thoght and free speech, reminiscent of fascism.during a GOP-led hearing, Sewell described the effort as dangerous and perilous, expressing concern over the oversight of exhibits that many view as reflecting a liberal bias. Democratic witness Dr.David Blight compared the Trump administration\u2019s actions to an authoritarian regime and Nazi Germany, emphasizing that history is inherently revisionist and evolves as new information emerges. Sewell and Blight argued that attempts to influence museum narratives threaten democratic values and suppress free inquiry.Additionally, Sewell expressed difficulty feeling pride in America due to its historical treatment of Native Americans, suggesting that indigenous leaders founded the nation rather than colonists. The hearing followed a White House report accusing the Smithsonian of ideological bias and pushing a narrative emphasizing systemic injustice and white supremacy, amidst debates over the content and direction of American historical education and depiction.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A House Democrat likened the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/White-House\/\">White House\u2019s<\/a> investigation into the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Smithsonian-Institution\/\">Smithsonian Institution\u2019s<\/a> alleged left-wing rewriting of American history to an Orwellian takeover by a \u201cfascist\u201d government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) attacked President Donald Trump\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history\/\">executive order<\/a> to \u201crestore truth\u201d to the Smithsonian\u2019s telling of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/american-history\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2462\">American history<\/a> at its National Museum of American History during a GOP-led hearing on Wednesday discussing the museum\u2019s \u201cradical revisionism.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4658907\/terri-sewell-trump-smithsonian-scrutiny-revisionism-fascism\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Democratic congresswoman compares Trump\u2019s scrutiny of Smithsonian to \u2018fascism\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4658636\/nancy-mace-ndaa-amendment-us-military-gender-ideology\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Nancy Mace on NDAA amendment: \u2018Chopping off body parts does not make a better soldier\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4658658\/republican-mary-miller-grills-smithsonian-official-lgbt-exhibit\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>\u2018What is a crotch harness?\u2019 Republican grills Smithsonian official over LGBT exhibit<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis administration\u2019s crusade to take control of the American History Museum, I think, is not only dangerous, it\u2019s perilous,\u201d Sewell said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The House Administration Committee hearing followed the publication of a White House report on the \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Smithsonian-Report-Saving-Americas-Story.pdf\">ideological capture<\/a>\u201d of the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History, which found that various exhibits at the museum retold key aspects of U.S. history through a liberal lens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat they are really doing is trying to control thought, free speech,\u201d Dr. David Blight, the Democrats\u2019 witness, said of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"339\">Trump administration\u2019s<\/a> oversight efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat sounds reminiscent of fascism,\u201d Sewell said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\">U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., speaks outside the Alabama state house during a special session of the Alabama Legislature, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/07\/localimages\/Terri-Sewell-redistricting.jpg?w=696&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) speaks outside the Alabama state house during a special session of the Alabama Legislature, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Montgomer. (Mike Stewart\/AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blight agreed with Sewell\u2019s use of the term and compared the Trump administration to an \u201cauthoritarian regime\u201d similar to the totalitarian dictatorship of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou used that word. That\u2019s fine. There have been plenty of other examples,\u201d Blight continued. \u201cWhat do authoritarian regimes do first? They assault libraries, archives, schools, universities, [and] cultural institutions. This is an old, old record, and we don\u2019t have to just go to the 1930s to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blight, previously president of the Organization of American Historians, then argued that history itself is intrinsically revisionist and is continually revised as historians learn new information about historical events.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll history is revision,\u201d Blight said. \u201cThe first revisionist was Herodotus, 250 years ago. Would you prefer your doctors not to be revisionist? Do you want to go to a pediatrician who is not revisionist, who hasn\u2019t learned anything new since his or her first training? We revise because it\u2019s our job. It always will be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In opening remarks, Sewell said that America still needs to work toward achieving a more just society. \u201cI can tell you that the arc of the universe does bend toward justice; it just doesn\u2019t bend by itself,\u201d Sewell said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smithsonian officials are accused of reshaping museum programming and infusing their work, including <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4657414\/brandon-gill-smithsonian-mickey-mouse-racist\/\">exhibits unrelated to slavery and racial discrimination<\/a>, with \u201canti-racist\u201d theory that teaches museum-goers that America\u2019s past is purely defined by white supremacy and systemic injustice.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4657414\/brandon-gill-smithsonian-mickey-mouse-racist\/\"><strong>BRANDON GILL PRESSES SMITHSONIAN OFFICIAL OVER DECLARING IMAGERY RACIST: \u2018IS MICKEY MOUSE RACIST?\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sewell, at one point, said she struggles to feel pride for America because of its past treatment of Native Americans and appeared to suggest that the nation was actually founded by indigenous tribal leaders, not colonials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI, too, love this country unconditionally. But I can tell you that it is hard sometimes when you hear and read how we treated the fore-founders of this country, who were Indians,\u201d claimed Sewell.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrat compares Smithsonian probe to fascist takeover<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3767,"featured_media":2633735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Terri-Sewell.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[18344,5894,17565,83034,3634],"class_list":["post-2633734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-fascism","tag-politics","tag-smithsonian","tag-terri-sewell","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Terri-Sewell.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2633734"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2633737,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633734\/revisions\/2633737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2633735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2633734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2633734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2633734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}