Ben Shapiro: “The Smithsonian has had some problems being infiltrated by woke”
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From the August 14, 2025, edition of The Daily Wire's The Ben Shapiro Show
BEN SHAPIRO (HOST): In order for politicians to truly demagogue, you have to suggest that America is a terrible place. That the only thing that can fix America is if you give me more power. Your life will be better if you give me more power or you give me more money.
Well, to President Trump's credit, he understands that in order to rectify that, in order to fight against that, what you actually have to do is change the cultural conversation around what America is. So there are a lot of people today who are very, very angry at President Trump for intervening with the Smithsonian. So the Smithsonian Institution is, of course, a series of museums. It's everything from the National Museum of American History to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. And the Smithsonian has had some problems being infiltrated by woke. See, the left has known this for a long time. If you want to build up a narrative that America is truly a terrible place that requires massive earth shaking change, that has to be done culturally.
And this is why, for example, back in 2020, during the Black Lives Matter moment, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum of African American History literally put out an exhibit called the aspects and assumptions of whiteness and white culture in the United States. I remember this one almost verbatim because it was so insane. Because it was basically that horseshoe theory where the alt-right Nazis and the woke Black Lives Matter folks, like, they shook hands.
So, according to the National Museum of African American History, again, this was back in 2020, aspects and assumption of whiteness in white culture, like things that are uniquely white include things like rugged individualism. The individual is the primary unit. Independence and autonomy are highly valued and rewarded. Things like family structure are white. The nuclear family, father mother, 2.3 children is the ideal social unit. An emphasis on the scientific method. Again, this is put out by the Smithsonian saying that this is a white thing, like science is a white thing. Also, by the way, history is a white thing. Also, work ethic is a white thing. Other white things include time, quote, follow rigid time schedules. Also aesthetics based on European culture. Also, things like, you know, justice based on English common law, competition, and religion. Right? All those things were just white people things according to the Smithsonian.
Well, the president has come in and he says, listen, we're not doing this anymore. I want to go through everything that the left woked up, and we're gonna try and fix that now.
So, the White House sent a letter to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a person named Lonnie Bunch, talking about all of this. Quote, as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, it is more important than ever that our national museums reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story. In this spirit and in accordance with executive order 14253, we'll be leading a comprehensive internal review of selected Smithsonian museums and exhibitions. This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the president's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.
And so they're going go through the public-facing content and how content is curated and how exhibitions are planned and all of the rest. And so they asked for all the material on educational materials, external partnerships, grants, and everything else.
And everybody on the left went insane. How dare you touch the Smithsonian? How dare you touch it? Now, again, this is a game that the left has been playing for a long time. They take a venerable institution like the Smithsonian. They gut it. They wear the face around like Hannibal Lecter. And then they pretend that if you say, hey, things need to change here, you're attacking the institution itself. But it's too late. It's already been gutted.