Conservative media watchdog NewsBusters argues NPR painted Republican criticism of the Smithsonian as buffoonish, muddying the substance of GOP arguments over gender and race exhibits while relaying Democratic charges without challenge.
The July 21 online report by NPR culture reporter Anastasia Tsioulcas covered a House subcommittee hearing where Republicans sharply questioned Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. NewsBusters' Clay Waters wrote that Tsioulcas "did not delve into the details of the Republican arguments" but instead reduced them to crude accusations that "closely mirrored the Trump administration's criticisms of the institution she leads as insufficiently patriotic."
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) pressed Hartig about the "Girlhood" exhibition, which included mentions of gender identity and puberty. Mace asked: "When was your gender revealed to you, Dr. Hartig?" Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) asked whether Hartig intended to use a taxpayer-funded museum to "push a racial narrative that divides Americans by their skin color and guilt." Hartig replied: "So the Smithsonian is a nonpartisan institution we're very proud of."
Waters noted that NPR gave ample airtime to Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), who defended the National Museum of African American History and Culture with an extended indictment of Republican intent: "I'm here as a Black man who grew up in segregation … We will not let you destroy that museum, no matter how long it takes, how many battles are required, how much effort is needed. We will not allow that to happen unless you find a way to kill all of us and walk over our bodies to change history."
There are no "fact checkers" when it's claimed that Republicans want to destroy a museum.
The two-minute Morning Edition audio version included Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) arguing the Smithsonian suggests "history is just an ongoing power struggle between oppressors and the oppressed," alongside Mfume's charges, again with no pushback from NPR.
A July 7 Morning Edition interview by Steve Inskeep with Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association, drew sharper criticism from NewsBusters. Inskeep told his guest the Trump administration's accusations "didn't strike me as that major" and that they "disagreed with a few bits of wording on cards and so forth." Weicksel responded: "It does not distort history. And in fact, the report is misrepresenting the museum's collection and especially the exhibition of extraordinary artifacts that tell the history of the American Revolution."
Inskeep also asked about Lonnie Bunch, described as the first African-American head of the Smithsonian Institution, noting he had not been fired or pushed aside. Weicksel said Bunch had "done an extraordinary job."
PBS's July 21 coverage also emphasized rebuttals, and its live coverage of the House oversight hearing was accompanied by an Associated Press story claiming "Many historians are alarmed by the revisionism."
The hearing followed a July 4 White House Domestic Policy Council report accusing the museum of "institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology." The report, titled "Saving America's Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage," prompted two consecutive days of congressional hearings.
A second day of questioning on Wednesday (July 22) before the House Administration Committee, covered separately by reporter Fred Lucas, brought more pointed exchanges. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) pressed Hartig over an exhibit about a young girl who wanted a male body part and a sexualized garment on display. "Families bring their children to the Smithsonian, expecting a lesson on American history. Instead, they're confronted with this indecency," Miller said.
Miller also asked Hartig about a "crotch harness" displayed as part of an exhibit. Hartig said the garment was part of a now-closed exhibit titled "Illegal to be You: Gay Liberation Since Stonewall" and that "of all the people who came by that, no one complained." Hartig said the temporary exhibits were no longer up and that all children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, testified at the hearing about a Smithsonian training document called the "Museum As a Site for Social Action Toolkit," also known as the "MASS Action Toolkit."
House Democrats issued a 16-page rebuttal calling the White House report an attempt to "control and contort the historical record." Bunch separately pushed back, saying the report was "not a fair characterization."
Waters also noted NPR's own inconsistent posture toward patriotic traditions, pointing out that the network halted its annual reading of the Declaration of Independence in 2022 and now attaches a trigger warning to past transcripts — a fact absent from Inskeep's July 7 interview, which framed the Trump administration's Smithsonian criticism as an Independence Day provocation.