The Smithsonian on Saturday denied it was pressured into removing a placard detailing the two impeachments against President Trump at an exhibit in the National Museum of American History.
The federal arts and history institution, while confirming it removed the placard from the impeachment section of its “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” exhibit last month, said it did so only because of aesthetic concerns.
“We were not asked by any Administration or other government official to remove content from the exhibit,” the Smithsonian said in a statement.
It explained that the move was made because “the placard … did not meet the museum’s standards in appearance, location, timeline and overall presentation.
“It was not consistent with other sections in the exhibit and moreover blocked the view of the objects inside its case. For these reasons, we removed the placard,” the Smithsonian said.
“The section in question, Impeachment, will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history,” it added.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that references to Trump’s two impeachments had been scrubbed from the exhibit and claimed that it was the result of a content review the museum chain initiated under pressure from the administration.
Some lefty critics quickly jumped on the notion, ripping the administration.
But the Smithsonian explained that the placard in question was intended only to be a “temporary” add-on to the exhibit, which is about 25 years old.
Trump is one of three US presidents to have been impeached, or had charges brought against him, by the House, alongside Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. All three were eventually acquitted by the Senate.
Former President Richard Nixon is also mentioned in the Smithsonian display, although he resigned right before he could be impeached over Watergate.
The first impeachment against Trump in 2019 was over his alleged pressure campaign to leverage aid for Ukraine to entice the US ally to dig up dirt on the Biden family.
His second impeachment took place over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Trump is also the first former or sitting US president to be criminally indicted — something he also survived. The charges involved falsifying business records.
Trump’s White House team has been leaning on the Smithsonian to root out wokeness in its policies and exhibits. In March, the president signed an executive order seeking to eliminate any alleged divisive narratives and to champion “American” values.
“The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” exhibit opened to the public in 2000 and features a photo from Johnson’s impeachment, copies of a report that sparked Clinton’s impeachment and a battered filing cabinet from the Watergate controversy.
Trump is briefly mentioned in a web-page companion to the exhibit.
