Just before Donald Trump took office back in 2017, he paid a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The newly appointed Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III has made some revelations about the soon-to-be president’s visit in his upcoming memoir, “A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama and Trump,” that will leave you even more disgusted with the dirtbag than you were before — if that’s even possible.
According to Bunch, Trump requested to visit the museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and had asked for the museum to be completely closed to the public during his personal tour.
“The notion that we could shut out visitors on the first King holiday since the opening of the museum was not something I could accept,” he wrote in his memoir, and a different day for Donald’s visit was ultimately chosen.
Donald was accompanied on his visit by Ben Carson, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and King’s niece Alveda King. Bunch wrote that he had hoped the visit “would contribute to a broader understanding of race relations in America. I am ever the optimist.”
The Smithsonian secretary went on to recall Donald’s aides warning him that Trump “was in a foul mood and that he did not want to see anything ‘difficult.'”
But Bunch did not back down, nor spare the president from anything “difficult.”
“It was not my job to make the rough edges of history smooth, even for the president,” he wrote.
“The president paused in front of the exhibit that discussed the role of the Dutch in the slave trade,” Bunch continued. “As he pondered the label I felt that maybe he was paying attention to the work of the museum. He quickly proved me wrong. As he turned from the display he said to me, ‘You know, they love me in the Netherlands.’ All I could say was let’s continue walking.”
“There is little I remember about the rest of the hour we spent together. I was so disappointed in his response to one of the greatest crimes against humanity in history,” he recalled. “Here was a chance to broaden the views and the understanding of the incoming president and I had been less successful than I had expected.”
Bunch, later in his book, goes on to lay at least part of the blame for this country’s racial divide on Trump’s shoulders:
“His administration’s combative relationship with many in the African American community — from his feuding with Congressman John Lewis… to the attacks on professional athletes, the overwhelming number of those singled out for critical tweets were African American, to his refusal to criticize the white supremacists whose rioting in Charlottesville, Virginia led to the death of Heather Heyer — have deepened the racial divide.”
“Many visitors have told me that since the election in 2016, the museum has gained even greater significance,” Bunch states. “To some, visiting the museum allows them to find the solace, inspiration and hope that the current poisonous political partisanship and racial antipathy will one day be overcome.”
I wish I could say that I’m surprised.
Featured image via DC Tribune Gallery
Like what you see here? Join the discussion on Facebook over at Americans For Sanity!
