Trump Angry at Smithsonian, for Depicting Slavery as Bad

[The Barbarian]

President Donald Trump escalated his campaign to purge cultural institutions of materials that conflict with his political directives on Tuesday, alleging museums were too focused on highlighting negative aspects of American history, including “how bad slavery was.”
In a Truth Social post, Trump directed his attorneys to conduct a review of museums, comparing the effort to his crackdown on universities across the country...
"The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been-"

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/politics/trump-slavery-museum-smithsonian?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Big Brother is angry. History must change!

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Well, he is apparently affiliated with the KKK so this is not a surprise.

 

[The Barbarian]

Attempts to justify slavery​

It's natural that some people are slaves​

This argument says that some people are slaves as part of the natural order of the universe, or as part of God's plan,

One of the saddest examples is from a declared Christian:

Neither Negroes nor any other Hamitic people were intended to be forcibly subjugated on the basis of this Noah declaration. The prophecy would be inevitably fulfilled because of the innate natures of the three genetic stocks, not by virtue of any artificial constraints imposed by man.”
Institute for Creation Research co-founder Henry Morris

Slavery is good for slaves​

This argument teaches that slaves lack the ability to run their own lives and are therefore better-off and happier in a system where their lives are run by others.​

More here:

BBC - Ethics - Slavery: Attempts to justify slavery

A number of arguments have been put forward to try and justify slavery. None of them would find much favour today, but at various times in history many people found some of these arguments entirely reasonable.

www.bbc.co.uk

Trump thinks that Americans have unjustly portrayed slavery as a bad thing. He has allies out there, waiting...

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Well, we should take a census and find out who thinks slavery is a good thing, then make them slaves..

 

[Gr8Grace]

President Donald Trump escalated his campaign to purge cultural institutions of materials that conflict with his political directives on Tuesday, alleging museums were too focused on highlighting negative aspects of American history, including “how bad slavery was.”
In a Truth Social post, Trump directed his attorneys to conduct a review of museums, comparing the effort to his crackdown on universities across the country...
"The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been-"

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/politics/trump-slavery-museum-smithsonian?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Big Brother is angry. History must change!

It's a perspective thing. The left will focus on slavery and how bad it was. The right will focus on " We got rid of that garbage!!"

The left is the forever victim. And cannot see the great strides that this great nation has made.

 

[The Barbarian]

Well, we should take a census and find out who thinks slavery is a good thing, then make them slaves..

It's a perspective thing. The left will focus on slavery and how bad it was. The right will focus on " We got rid of that garbage!!"

Actually, it's Trump throwing a tantrum because the Smithsonian is saying that slavery was a bad thing.

President Donald Trump escalated his campaign to purge cultural institutions of materials that conflict with his political directives on Tuesday, alleging museums were too focused on highlighting negative aspects of American history, including “how bad slavery was.”

Many of Trump's supporters are angered by the Smithsonian's opposition to slavery.

 

[Gr8Grace]

Actually, it's Trump throwing a tantrum because the Smithsonian is saying that slavery was a bad thing.

President Donald Trump escalated his campaign to purge cultural institutions of materials that conflict with his political directives on Tuesday, alleging museums were too focused on highlighting negative aspects of American history, including “how bad slavery was.”

Many of Trump's supporters are angered by the Smithsonian's opposition to slavery.

Many of the TDS crew will create a crisis no matter the consequences.

 

[The Barbarian]

Many of the TDS crew will create a crisis no matter the consequences.

Trump's ongoing decline is responsible for a lot of the weird things he does. But this time, it seems to be one more attempt to deflect from his growing problems over the hidden files.

I suspect that his "slavery wasn't that bad"campaign isn't going to help much. BTW, I've learned that your acronym and similar terms suggesting mental decline of public figures or forum participants are now considered a breach of the TOS. I'm removing any such terms in my posts and will not use them henceforth. You might consider doing so as well.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Actually, it's Trump throwing a tantrum because the Smithsonian is saying that slavery was a bad thing.

President Donald Trump escalated his campaign to purge cultural institutions of materials that conflict with his political directives on Tuesday, alleging museums were too focused on highlighting negative aspects of American history, including “how bad slavery was.”

Many of Trump's supporters are angered by the Smithsonian's opposition to slavery.

His Tony Clifton act is really getting old.

 

[The Barbarian]

As Trump's condition becomes more obvious:

But what Trump is doing now is something different. Confabulation is sometimes called “honest lying,” because the person doing it genuinely believes what he’s saying, even if it is obviously and patently false. A person confabulates when they are telling completely invented stories that don’t provide them any particular tangible benefit. In other words, it’s not like lying to try and get out of a speeding ticket.

Confabulation isn’t misremembering a date or forgetting something. The mistakes of memory we are all subject to become confabulation when people remember false information in vivid detail — detail so vivid and complete that people who don’t know otherwise often believe what they are hearing is true.

In older people, confabulation is one of the clearest early signs of dementia. The day you witness someone confabulate is often the day you are forced to admit to yourself that a beloved parent needs help, and that all the little slips and oddities you’ve been seeing can no longer be rationalized away.

For Trump, the day we could no longer pretend everything is fine came on July 15, when he told a lengthy story about his uncle, John Trump, who he claimed taught at MIT and held three degrees in “nuclear, chemical, and math.” His uncle, according to Trump, once told him how he had taught Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, and how very smart Kaczynski was.

Trump’s uncle was indeed a professor at MIT, but everything else in this story is pure confabulation. Trump’s uncle didn’t have degrees in “nuclear, chemical, and math” — he had degrees in electrical engineering and physics. And Kaczynski did not go to MIT at all — he went to Harvard.

But most telling of all, it is categorically impossible for Trump’s uncle to have told him any such story. Kaczynski became publicly known as the Unabomber when he was arrested in 1996. Trump’s uncle, the MIT professor, died in 1985. In other words, Trump’s uncle could not have told him the story because there was, literally, no story to tell during his lifetime.

Once you have seen that Donald Trump is confabulating, it cannot be unseen — and all sorts of other mildly disturbing incidents suddenly fall into place.

Difficulty with mathematical concepts is another early warning sign of dementia. Now watch Trump attempting to explain how he is going to make drug prices go down by “1,000 percent, 600 percent, 500 percent, 1,500 percent.” That’s complete nonsense, unless drug companies will be paying patients to accept prescriptions, since reducing drug prices by 100 percent would mean they were free. Certainly, someone who got a business degree from Wharton and has spent his life running a company would know how percentages work.
,,,
I know a lot of people genuinely love the man, even if I don’t. I recognize how hard this must be for them. After the death of a child, watching someone you love and respect struggle with dementia may be one of the worst experiences a person can have, whether it’s a parent or a president.

But when the time comes, it’s something that must be faced squarely. That goes double when we are talking about the president.

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5429516-trump-confabulation-dementia-signs/

 

[Amo2]

Delusional is, as delusional does. Nobody is claiming that slavery is or was a good thing. The issue is regarding those who weaponize exaggerated and or revisionist versions of history which lump all Americans into evil slave supporters or those who deny such ever happened or was evil. This for the obvious political ends attached to most of it.

Slaves did not rise up in revolution and deliver themselves. A divided nation of predominantly white people, entered into conflict about different issues, among which slavery was and or became prominent. To the effect that they went to war over the issues with somewhere between 6 to 7 hundred thousand lives claimed by it. Those white folk who supported slavery lost the war and from a Christian perspective in any case, rightly so. At no time were all Americans guilty of slavery and or support of the same. To paint a picture as though they were, is a false narrative of history, just as saying they were not would be as well. The left just tends to focus exclusively upon those who did support it as far more widespread if not almost universal, which is a false narrative of history. Wielded as a weapon against their political opponents on the right.

Nevertheless, the biblical principles established by our founders won the day. This nation and the world itself enjoying the benefits of matured Protestant political thought and action, realized. The long battle for religious liberty which Protestants fought and won in many places including these United States of America, spilled over into defeating the most ancient practice of slavery as well. Americans simply could not maintain slavery while their own Declaration of Independence conclusively stated the following -

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.


The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,


When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.


We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

This biblical principle was first established in relation to civil and religious rights among those who would declare themselves a free people, by a Constitution for, of, and by the people. It took longer however, for it to be applied to and overthrow the most ancient practice of slavery. Which had been a declared right by the victors over the losers of most of the world's conflicts throughout history. Slavery of course needed to be abolished before such freedoms and rights could be shared by all.

The Constitution of the United States

AMENDMENTS

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

2nd Amendment

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Some people simply want to paint the history of the United states as purely evil for political reasons, others perhaps want to paint it as a hundred percent saintly for the same reasons as well. Neither of course is true. Nevertheless, the will of a nation is expressed within its laws. And the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of these United States of America do not allow for religious persecution or slavery. Amen!

 

[The Barbarian]

Delusional is, as delusional does. Nobody is claiming that slavery is or was a good thing.

Trump is angry at the Smithsonian for making slavery look bad.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/us/politics/trump-smithsonian-slavery.html

The issue is regarding those who weaponize exaggerated and or revisionist versions of history which lump all Americans into evil slave supporters or those who deny such ever happened or was evil.

Don't see any of those. Must be like those cancer-causing windmills, um? But if I'm wrong, link to the evidence of people saying all Americans support slavery. What do you have?

Of course the Founders were mostly Christians, with some deists, Jewish believers, and some "free-thinkers." None of them wanted a system based on Christian, much less Protestant belief.

Because experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of Religion, have had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution....Because it will destroy that moderation and harmony which the forbearance of our laws to intermeddle with Religion has produced among its several sects. Torrents of blood have been spilt in the old world, by vain attempts of the secular arm, to extinguish Religious discord, by proscribing all difference in Religious opinion. Time has at length revealed the true remedy. Every relaxation of narrow and rigorous policy, wherever it has been tried, has been found to assuage the disease. The American Theatre has exhibited proofs that equal and compleat liberty, if it does not wholly eradicate it, sufficiently destroys its malignant influence on the health and prosperity of the State.9 If with the salutary effects of this system under our own eyes, we begin to contract the bounds of Religious freedom, we know no name that will too severely reproach our folly...
James Madison, Against Religious Assessments

Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word "Jesus Christ," so that it should read, "a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination.
Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography

 

[The Barbarian]

And the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of these United States of America do not allow for religious persecution or slavery.

The Declaration of Independence has nothing at all to say about slavery.

 

[The Barbarian]

Nobody is claiming that slavery is or was a good thing.

Hopefully, no one here. But into the 1990s, one prominent YEC was saying that it was God's doing, as some races were by nature, slaves.

 

[bèlla]

I’ve seen similar acknowledgments on CF with the benefit of christianity as a consolation of sorts. I don’t try to understand their rationale or his for that matter. We’ve entered a period where political correctness is beginning to fracture and the truth is coming forth. Whether we like it or not. What do you expect from someone with his background with limited interaction with minorities beyond positions of authority? The diversity many are accustomed to isn’t a factor in all spheres.

Which isn’t an excuse for the remark or mindsets along those lines. We all have biases after all. Most are sensible enough to keep them to ourselves or restrict our comments to private settings. But Trump is the catalyst for speaking your mind unapologetically. And in spite of the protests he hasn’t wavered nor have his supporters.

Perhaps it’s time to address the elephant in the room and stop talking around it. A lot of people are tired of diversity, marginal groups, ignorance, and fill-in-the blank with your offense. That’s where we are in our society and it shows no indication of letting up. We’re going to hear more of the same and then some. But you can’t allow it to trigger you. They think what they think. It’s better to know the truth than not.

This is a foreshadowing of future we don’t cares in other areas. It won’t remain with race and immigrants. The President sets the tone.

~bella

 

[The Barbarian]

We’ve entered a period where political correctness is beginning to fracture and the truth is coming forth. Whether we like it or not.

It's no longer dangerous for a public figure to express anger at an institution that says slavery is bad. That's America today.

 

[bèlla]

It's no longer dangerous for a public figure to express anger at an institution that says slavery is bad. That's America today.

Consider the context that made it possible. The American dream is dead or dying for many that’s why former times appeal. They want to go back to a period when life was good. And if it means slavery and oppression so be it. They’re focused on the spoils.

Everything we’re witnessing was already there. We just needed a trigger to bring it out.

~bella

 

[The Barbarian]

Consider the context that made it possible. The American dream is dead or dying for many that’s why former times appeal. They want to go back to a period when life was good. And if it means slavery and oppression so be it. They’re focused on the spoils.

I grew up in the time when the New Deal changes had transformed America. An ordinary working-class guy could have a family, a car, and a house on his wages. For most of us, it was the best of times. Racism was still legally enforced in much of the nation though. If you were really rich there were downsides; the top tax rates were high enough to prevent the kind of wealth we see guys like Musk getting today, and workers were getting a larger share of the wealth they produced. And the economy was doing great.

Mostly it was good times, if you were a working-class white male, a farmer, or a small business owner. The irony is, these demographic groups are those who most support Trump, who has done everything he can to keep from going back to those times.

Except for the racism, of course.

 

[A New Dawn]

I see the old lie machine is alive and well.

Trump, as well as most people in America, just want things portrayed accurately. Nobody has the desire to portray slavery as anything but despicable, but there was good during that time. For instance the north fought against institutionalizing slavery like the south did, long before the civil war. And speaking of the civil war, let’s not forget that upwards of 620,000 men fought and died to free the slaves. 620,000. That is more US soldiers than who died in the 1st world war and the second combined, as well as most of the rest of the wars we’ve been involved in. If nobody can recognize the good things that happened, or even remember that men DIED to free the slaves, then the people hating on Trump for this issue have no redeemable qualities.

 

[The Barbarian]

Trump, as well as most people in America, just want things portrayed accurately. Nobody has the desire to portray slavery as anything but despicable, but there was good during that time. For instance the north fought against institutionalizing slavery like the south did, long before the civil war. And speaking of the civil war, let’s not forget that towards of 620,000 men fought and died to free the slaves. 620,000. That is more US soldiers than who died in the 1st world war and the second combined, as well as most of the rest of the wars we’ve been involved in. If nobody can recognize the good things that happened, or even remember that men DIED to free the slaves, then the people hating on Trump for this issue have no redeemable qualities.

The good thing was exactly what Trump was so angry about; people said slavery was evil and sought to end it. Trump's ire was aroused because the Smithsonian is showing that slavery is evil.