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Jillian Michaels appeared as a panelist on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Thursday, Aug. 14
The panel discussed President Donald Trump’s order for a review of the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibits
During the conversation, Michaels expressed her opinions about White people regarding slavery, race, and the exhibits
Jillian Michaels doubled down on her thoughts on White people in a heated debate on live television about slavery, race, and the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibits.
The conversation began when The Biggest Loser trainer joined a panel on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Thursday, Aug. 14, who were discussing President Donald Trump’s order for a review of the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibits.
The Trump administration sent a letter on Tuesday, Aug. 12, to the Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, explaining that the goal of the internal review was to ensure the exhibits “celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
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President Donald Trump during a campaign event at Alro Steel on August 29, 2024
Michaels argued that Trump is “not whitewashing slavery,” adding, “You cannot tie imperialism and racism and slavery to just one race, which is pretty much what every single [museum] exhibit does.”
After some of her panelists wanted to chime in, Michaels said, “Do you realize that only less than 2% of White Americans owned slaves? You realize that slavery is thousands of years old?”
Phillip, in response, told Michaels, “I’m surprised that you’re trying to litigate who was the beneficiary of slavery. In the context of American history, what are you saying is incorrect by saying that it was White people oppressing Black people?”
“Every single thing is like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, this is all because white people are bad and that’s just not the truth,’ ” she said. “Every single exhibit, I have a list of every single one like people migrated from Cuba because White people are bad, not because of Castro. Yes. No, it’s in there.”
She then discussed a Smithsonian installation she called Change Your Game that highlights the complexities of gender testing in sports, declaring, “Is it fair to have biological men competing against biological women in sports? No. But why is this in the Smithsonian?”
After Phillip said there wasn’t enough time to debate everything Michaels was saying, she claimed that “everything is racialized.”
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Jillian Michaels attends KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2018 Presented By Capital One at The Forum
A confused Phillip answered, “This was a conversation about the arts. And you brought up race.” Michaels insisted that her point was that “when you make every single exhibit about White imperialism when it isn’t relevant at all, that is a problem.”
“So when you’re talking about Cubans leaving Cuba and you make it about White people bad, that’s not accurate,” said Michaels.
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After the segment aired, Michaels doubled down on her comments on X, by showing a photo of one of the exhibits and writing, “Trump is not trying to ‘erase slavery’ by suggesting some of the instillations there are inaccurate and bias.”
Read the original article on People
