{"id":2656157,"date":"2026-09-08T17:49:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T21:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignsmithsonian-leader-behind-leftward-degradation-resigns\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T17:52:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T21:52:27","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignsmithsonian-leader-behind-leftward-degradation-resigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignsmithsonian-leader-behind-leftward-degradation-resigns\/","title":{"rendered":"Smithsonian Leader Behind Leftward Degradation Resigns"},"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\">12<\/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%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignsmithsonian-leader-behind-leftward-degradation-resigns%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=2656157&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>Lonnie Bunch, who served as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution as 2019 and was instrumental in founding the National Museum of African American History and Culture, resigned amid controversy over the institution&#8217;s shift toward anti-American and left-wing narratives. Critics argue that under his leadership,the Smithsonian has increasingly embraced divisive racial and social ideology,promoting narratives that question America&#8217;s founding and its history,including claims that the U.S.is built on stolen land and depicting American history as a form of civilizational upheaval.<\/p>\n<p>The institution has also partnered with groups promoting far-left ancient revisionism, such as the Zinn Education Project, which advocates for the abolition of Columbus Day and promotes contentious views on American history, slavery, and wars. Exhibits have emphasized topics like gender and sexuality, Black Lives Matter, and social justice protests, often displaying anti-American themes. Critics contend that these exhibits distort historic facts to serve a political agenda aimed at transforming national perceptions of America.<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to counteract this trend have been initiated by the Trump administration, which sought to restore the Smithsonian\u2019s original mission of increasing knowledge. Experts emphasize the importance of a balanced patriotism that recognizes flaws but also appreciates America\u2019s principles and history, advocating for a truthful and nuanced understanding of the nation&#8217;s story.  <\/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<div>\n<p>Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution who led its leftward degradation, resigned Tuesday after years of overseeing the advancement of anti-American propaganda at the nation\u2019s premier art, culture, and history establishment.<\/p>\n<p>Bunch, who took over as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.edu\/newsdesk\/releases\/smithsonian-secretary-lonnie-g-bunch-iii-announces-retirement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">secretary<\/a> in 2019 but has been at the Smithsonian for almost 38 years, founded the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture prior to becoming secretary. Under his leadership, the Smithsonian added to its insidious track record of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/12\/16\/partitioning-smithsonian-museums-by-race-is-anti-american-and-morally-evil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">partitioning<\/a> its museums along racial and gender ideology lines. He plans to leave the Smithsonian by the end of the year, according to the resignation announcement.<\/p>\n<p>Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is chancellor of the Smithsonian by law, lauded Bunch\u2019s tenure in a statement reacting to the resignation, saying, \u201cSecretary Bunch has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation\u2019s story. The Regents, and the Smithsonian, have benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision and leadership.\u201d However, as The Federalist has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/smithsonian\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chronicled<\/a>, the Smithsonian has been in stark decline for years.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the National Museum of American History\u2019s director, Anthea Hartig, has repeatedly parroted a land acknowledgment claiming that the United States is on stolen land taken from American Indian tribes. A video from the institution called \u201cThe Indian Problem\u201d asserts that the American government committed genocide against American Indians.<\/p>\n<p>As John Fonte noted in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/08\/the-smithsonian-has-no-business-saying-america-is-built-on-stolen-land\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">these pages<\/a>, Bunch and Hartig \u201cconsistently claim that they are presenting a nuanced, neutral, unbiased narrative of America\u2019s story to our citizens and foreign visitors.\u201d But they actually use the \u201ccrude weaponized concept\u201d of \u201cstolen land\u201d to \u201c\u2018problematize\u2019 our founding (to use Anthea Hartig\u2019s own language) and, in the process, de-legitimize historic America. This is all part of the effort to fundamentally transform our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The American History Museum also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/15\/smithsonians-american-history-museum-is-wall-to-wall-anti-american-propaganda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">referred<\/a> to the founding of America and civilizational expansion as the \u201cprofound unsettling of the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That kind of propaganda, and much more, has been ingrained in the Smithsonian for a long time. The institution <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2019\/08\/21\/howard-zinns-anti-american-propaganda-takes-smithsonian\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">partnered<\/a> with the far-left historical revisionism group the Zinn Education Project (ZEP) to participate in \u201cteach-ins\u201d for teachers to receive continuing education credit.<\/p>\n<p>One of the ZEP\u2019s initiatives has been to abolish Columbus Day, and it has been partially successful, especially at the state and local levels. President Joe Biden officially <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-lifestyle-holidays-columbus-day-a1ad30d52ad7ff80aa8e7621e2f9a425\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proclaimed<\/a> the protest \u201choliday\u201d of Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day every year he was in office.<\/p>\n<p>ZEP also advances fake, anti-American histories about the American Founding and Revolution, slavery, the Civil War, World War II, and demonizes the anti-communists in the House Un-American Activities Committee while shielding the role of communism in the American labor movement and civil rights movement.<\/p>\n<p>The Smithsonian also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/15\/smithsonians-american-history-museum-is-wall-to-wall-anti-american-propaganda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">promoted<\/a> homosexuality and argued that \u201ctransgender\u201d athletes should be allowed to compete against members of the opposite sex, denying that characteristics like testosterone and bone density give men an advantage over women. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the American flag is seen either being used to support left-wing causes like mass migration and LGBT material, or it is being burnt, associated with the Ku Klux Klan, or included with other anti-American exhibits.<\/p>\n<p>At every turn, in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/22\/the-smithsonian-institution-has-been-captured-by-the-left-for-too-long-trump-is-right-to-keep-criticizing-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seemingly every museum<\/a>, there is anti-American propaganda that is meant to serve as the \u201cmemory for the nation,\u201d as the Smithsonian itself claims to be.<\/p>\n<p>The Museum of African Art used exhibits to advance Black Lives Matter and the \u201cnational racial reckoning\u201d narrative, and showed an exhibit putting drug overdose victim George Floyd and communist revolutionary Che Guevara on par with Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>The Museum of Natural History had a display showing how cell phone footage, like in the case of George Floyd, can be used to start riots and protests in order to advance social justice.<\/p>\n<p>The Museum of Asian Art highlighted \u201ctransgenderism\u201d with an exhibit \u201cconfront[ing] notions of gender and cultural identity through photography\u201d to \u201cexplore representations of power, place, and sexuality in today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The institutional capture was so thorough that soon after taking office, the Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/fact-sheets\/2025\/03\/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">started<\/a> its push to revitalize the Smithsonian, aiming to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/15\/smithsonians-american-history-museum-is-wall-to-wall-anti-american-propaganda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">restore<\/a> it to its founding mission: to be \u201can establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA healthy attachment to this country is neither blind to its flaws nor fanatical in believing that America is the source of all good,\u201d Hillsdale College\u2019s Matthew Spalding <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/22\/how-woke-smithsonian-bureaucrats-killed-americas-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">testified<\/a> to Congress earlier this year, noting how Smithsonian bureaucrats \u201ckilled America\u2019s story.\u201d \u201cNevertheless, each generation should be equipped with a knowledge of America\u2019s principles and history, a reverence for their liberties, and a reflective love of their country. That patriotism must be strong enough and unsentimental enough to coexist with criticism, dissent, disappointment, and opposition. But it is love all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smithsonian Secretary Bunch resigns amid controversy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2656158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/13764447645_c8f43b991e_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[45099,50402,36160,6522,17565],"class_list":["post-2656157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cultural-debate","tag-leadership-2","tag-political-controversy","tag-resignation","tag-smithsonian"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/13764447645_c8f43b991e_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656157","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\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2656157"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2656160,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656157\/revisions\/2656160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2656158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2656157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2656157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2656157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}