Amid peddling her book on the “Imperial Presidency,” Maggie Haberman’s slant skewed steeper in framing a “massive” escalation that the public viewed as mere accountability.
Tuesday, along with her The New York Times peer Jonathan Swan, Haberman is set to release the new book, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.” Just days earlier, she took umbrage with orders toward addressing inaccuracy at the Smithsonian Institution, sharing an article from her peers on a signage executive order deemed an “unusual directive” by the Gray Lady’s muckrakers.
“Trump massively escalates against the Smithsonian,” wrote Haberman, captioning the article, “Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum.”
Trump massively escalates against the Smithsonian > https://t.co/7VdlmoGOdq
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 24, 2026
Within the piece, Robin Pogrebin and Zachary Small deemed Trump’s order to have warning signs placed outside exhibits of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NAMH) regarding the “social justice lens” skewing the information as a “considerable escalation.”
“The unusual directive, made through an executive order, was a considerable escalation of the president’s dispute with the Smithsonian and its history museum, which was the subject of a recent 162-page report,” they wrote. “The report accused the museum’s director Anthea M. Hartig, of ‘radical activist ideology’ and the museum of undermining ‘faith in American institutions.'”
The Times’ article further stated, “The order went so far as to suggest that the signage inform potential museum visitors of locations where American history is better presented. The administration did not explain where the public would be redirected.”
Among those criticizing Haberman and corporate media for their perspective, some pointed to last week’s congressional hearing where NMAH Director Anthea Hartig was questioned on, among other things, why the museum promoted a toolkit that considered politeness white supremacy while an exhibit appeared to peg Mickey Mouse as racist.
At the same hearing where Texas Rep. Brandon Gill (R) confronted Hartig with those points, The Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez had testified that a special exhibit of the Smithsonian titled, “The Electric Dr. Franklin” featured a display that wondered if the Founding Father “had ever done experiments, electrical electroshock on indentured servants or slaves.”
According to Gonzalez, the notion was presented “without producing any evidence whatsoever.”
“Why smear a Founding Father such as Ben Franklin by pondering such a really bizarre thing?” the witness posited.
When asked about “concerning examples” presented during the hearing and whether she had any regrets, Hartig told Georgia Rep. Brian Jack (R), “I am incredibly proud of the work we’ve done, but we are imperfect, and we surely have made mistakes. But I don’t have any regrets.”
Reactions to Haberman’s post were none too keen on the framing, calling out the Franklin example while decrying the museum for having “abandoned its mission to teach and preserve history” while adopting and advancing Marxist ideology.
About damn time. The Smithsonian has abandoned its mission to teach and preserve history in favor of become Social Justice Warriors. The entire leadership needs to go.
— Lucy Stone (@lucystone1871) July 25, 2026
The amount of historical misinformation being spread and the blatant Marxist influence is unbelievable. It’s a disgrace to our country that such people are in charge of running the museums.
— GenXer (@Texas68Landon) July 25, 2026
The @smithsonian has become a disgusting leftist activist indoctrination center. The entire leadership should be fired immediately
— M&M (@MM26316513) July 25, 2026
Tell me Maggie, what evidence is there that Ben Franklin performed electric shock therapy on slaves. I’ll wait.
— Linda Quinn (@ljquinn) July 25, 2026
The Smithsonian said that Benjamin Franklin used electroshock on slaves. Burn it to the ground. pic.twitter.com/IHAEzABP85
— StormyT 🌿 (@OutLikeA_Lamb) July 25, 2026
Smithsonian is a den of liars and Marxists. Put them all out of work forever
— Liberte (@Libertebb) July 25, 2026
This Smithsonian is not what it was and no amount of gaslighting bullshit from you Maggie is going to convince anyone that there isn’t a woke Leftist element to everything this once-lauded museum has done
You really think people are stupid
We really don’t hate the media enough
— Abri (@abriNotMe77) July 25, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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