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Tag: American History
December 22, 2025
Culture
News

Trump Admin to Cut Smithsonian Funding for Refusing to Comply with DEI Review.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding from the Smithsonian Institution unless additional documentation is submitted for a content review, related to an executive order aimed at rooting out divisive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) inspired exhibitions and celebrating America.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought, Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley, and the Smithsonian.

📍WHEN & WHERE: A letter was sent on Thursday addressing the issue, involving eight Smithsonian museums under review.

💬KEY QUOTE: “The overwhelming majority of requested items remain outstanding.” – Russell Vought and Vince Haley.

🎯IMPACT: Federal funding for Smithsonian museums is now conditioned on adherence to President Donald J. Trump’s executive order and compliance with the review process.

IN FULL

The Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding from the Smithsonian Institution unless the museum system provides additional documentation for a federal content review. In a letter sent Thursday to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley and White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought said the materials previously submitted “fell far short of what was requested, and the overwhelming majority of requested items remain outstanding.”

The review is part of a broader initiative launched by the administration this past summer to examine exhibits and other public programming at several Smithsonian museums. Officials said the goal is to ensure compliance with President Donald J. Trump’s executive order seeking “to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.” The order directs museums to evaluate whether their exhibits, educational materials, and events reflect “American ideals” and to make corrections if content is deemed ideologically driven or divisive.

The Smithsonian Institution, founded in the mid-19th century, includes 21 museums, 14 research centers, and the National Zoo. It is one of the nation’s leading cultural and research organizations, responsible for preserving and interpreting American history, science, and culture for the public. Recent years have seen controversy over some programming choices, including events featuring drag performers.

The White House has tied federal funding for the museums directly to compliance with the content review process. Administration officials have emphasized that failure to provide the requested documentation could jeopardize ongoing funding, signaling a heightened level of oversight of how federal dollars support cultural institutions.

Image by Geiserich77.

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July 12, 2024
William Upton
Culture

Gaybraham Lincoln? Documentary Claims ‘Honest Abe’ Was a Closet Homosexual.

Filmmaker Shaun Peterson contends that the bulk of scholarly work on the life of President Abraham Lincoln is wrong. According to Peterson, Lincoln was a homosexual who preferred the company of men—a case he argues in a new documentary, Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, released on July 10.

The documentary “examines the intimate life of America’s most consequential president, Abraham Lincoln. As told by preeminent Lincoln scholars and never before seen photographs and letters, the film details Lincoln’s romantic relationships with men.”

“The film fills in an important missing piece of American history and challenges the audience to consider why we hold such a limited view of human sexuality,” the film’s synopsis states, continuing: “Lover of Men is not only an exploration of gender roles and sexual identity, but also serves as an examination of American intolerance.”

According to Peterson—and allegedly never before seen letters authored by Lincoln—the sixteenth American president slept with more men than he did women. The crux of the contention that Lincoln was a closeted gay man is letters he exchanged with a childhood friend, Joshua Fry Speed. “Dear Speed, I shall be very lonesome without you. Love, Lincoln,” one letter reads.

SO, WAS LINCOLN GAY?

The idea of Lincoln being a homosexual dates to a 1926 biography by Carl Sandburg, which refers to Lincoln’s relationship with Speed as having “a streak of lavender, and spots soft as May violets.”

While some have interpreted Sandberg’s words as suggesting Lincoln was a closeted gay man, in reality, the author was referring to the more vulnerable relationship between two friends, which belied their more public-facing images of masculinity.

Letters supposedly authored by Lincoln explicitly detailing his homosexuality—and ‘found’ by gay rights activist Larry Kramer in 1999—are widely believed to be a hoax.

Recent attempts to ‘queer‘ popular fictional characters have fallen flat with audiences. The National Pulse reported in May that the ratings for the latest season of the British science fiction adventure Doctor Who have crashed following the introduction of the first “openly queer” black Doctor, played by Rwandan migrant Ncuti Gatwa.

Meanwhile, Disney‘s Star Wars: Acolyte—which features predominantly nonbinary and lesbian characters—has been widely panned by viewers and even some critics.

WATCH: 

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Filmmaker Shaun Peterson contends that the bulk of scholarly work on the life of President Abraham Lincoln is wrong. According to Peterson, Lincoln was a homosexual who preferred the company of men—a case he argues in a new documentary, Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, released on July 10. show more
March 22, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Culture
Media

MeidasTouch Author Blasts America’s Founders as ‘White Supremacist Rapist Pedophiles’.

MeidasTouch, the White House-linked group behind the “bloodbath” hoax, employs a contributor who believes America’s Founders were all white supremacists, rapists, and pedophiles.

Run by the Meiselas brothers, MeidasTouch gives ‘Coach D’ pride of place on its contributors page alongside editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski. ‘Coach D’ made his comments about America’s Founders on social media in response to ACT for America chairwoman Brigitte Gabriel.

“If President Trump were alive during the Revolutionary War, I have no doubt he would have been one of the first signers of the Constitution,” Gabriel wrote.

“Yes,” the Meiselas lackey agreed. “He absolutely would’ve been a white supremacist, rapist and pedophile like the other signers.”

‘Coach D’ also said seeing the American flag on trucks “gives me a bad feeling.”  He also said he was not surprised Iowans voted for Trump due to their “overt white supremacy.”

He also regularly trashes black people who lean right. He suggested Candace Owens “wakes up daily wishing she were white.” He also described comedian Terrence Williams as “a proud agent of white supremacy” who “hates being black.”

“If there were a way to have a surgery to become white, Terrance would be fighting Candace Owens to be first in line,” he said.

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MeidasTouch, the White House-linked group behind the “bloodbath” hoax, employs a contributor who believes America's Founders were all white supremacists, rapists, and pedophiles. show more