Smithsonian: Mickey Mouse is Racist and So Is Being Polite

**SPEAKER_1** (0:10)
Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite, Gunn-Totin, Bible-clinging, Deplorable American. Todd Starnes.

**Todd Starnes** (0:28)
Well, hello, everybody. Welcome. Happy Hump Day to you, America, wherever you might be. This is the Todd Starnes radio program, and we have got a lot of ground to cover today, including this crazy hearing yesterday involving the Smithsonian. And just a few takeaways from what happened yesterday. By the way, our telephone number, 901-260-5926.
That's 901-260-5926 if you plan on calling in today. But I've got a little bee in my bonnet about this, and I wanted to hear your take on it. So look, our good buddy, Congressman Tim Burchett from East Tennessee. He's been holding these Doge. He's chairman of the Doge. It's a subcommittee on Doge. And they're looking at the Smithsonian and the museums of the Smithsonian. A lot of people think the Smithsonian is just one museum. It's not. It's a lot of museums, all funded by your tax dollars, by the way. We'll get to that in just a moment. So anyway, yesterday there was a hearing. The lady in charge of the Museum of American History was taken to the woodshed by Republicans. And she was asked all sorts of questions. We got a lot of audio from this. And she was asked all sorts of questions. We learned, for example, that one Mickey Mouse is apparently, well, racist. And she said, well, no, not really racist. But it turns out that they really do believe that Mickey Mouse is racist. They believe that he is an example of blackface, which is sort of weird because most of Mickey's face is white. It's the ears. So are his ears are black. I just always thought he was a mouse. I didn't think he was like a Klan member. I didn't think he was like a Klan mouse, but apparently, who knew?
So anyway, they're saying that Mickey Mouse is racist and also being polite is racist.
And all sorts of stuff, it goes on and on and on. This whole thing of radical white supremacy, the whole nine yards. And this is all happening inside the museums.
And it's really a source of frustration, I think, for a lot of people, because you take your kids, you take the wife and the kids, and you go to the museums, and you think you're actually looking at American history, when in fact, you're getting this rather skewed view of what American history is all about. So I thought Brandon Gill, I like this guy, Brandon Gill is the son-in-law of Dinesh D'Souza. He's a congressman from Texas, and he's a smooth operator. He's a likable version of Ted Cruz. And he's just, the guy is just, he's got it together. So anyway, here he is talking about Mickey Mouse. Cut 18, please.

**Brandon Gill** (3:59)
Is Mickey Mouse racist?

**Anthea Hartig** (4:02)
Mickey Mouse is not racist.

**Brandon Gill** (4:03)
It's not racist. According to the Smithsonian Institution, one of your exhibits referenced Mickey Mouse as representing quote, vestiges of long-standing traditions of black face minstrelsy. Would you describe that as racist?

**Anthea Hartig** (4:18)
No, the historical trajectory of the origins of Mickey Mouse tie directly to...

**Brandon Gill** (4:26)
So Mickey Mouse is rooted in racism. Is that your testimony?

**Anthea Hartig** (4:30)
Where it's rooted in minstrelsy.

**Brandon Gill** (4:32)
Minstrelsy.

**Anthea Hartig** (4:32)
It's racist.

**Brandon Gill** (4:33)
Black face minstrelsy is racist?

**Anthea Hartig** (4:35)
It has certain unobvious racial overtones that have been well documented.

**Brandon Gill** (4:40)
You think that's problematic that Mickey Mouse also has those racial overtones?

**Anthea Hartig** (4:45)
It's not for me to determine what's problematic. It's determined to me what's accurate.

**Brandon Gill** (4:49)
Is that right?

**Todd Starnes** (4:52)
The voice you heard there, the female voice, Anthea Hartig, the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. And you heard her say it, Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse racist? That is just goofy, ladies and gentlemen. Goofy, I say, goofy.
Anyway, it gets worse. And he called her out on this whole thing. There's a whole paper and you can download it on the Smithsonian's website about all the things that are examples of white supremacy. For example, objectivity is a form of racism, and then it turns out being polite is a form of racism as well. Cut. 19, please.

**Brandon Gill** (5:35)
Is it important to be polite?

**Anthea Hartig** (5:38)
Excuse me, sir.

**Brandon Gill** (5:38)
Is it important to be polite?

**Anthea Hartig** (5:41)
Yes, sir.

**Brandon Gill** (5:42)
It's also interesting because the same mass action toolkit that your organization has been promoting references, politeness as a defining characteristic of White supremacy culture. Ma'am, are you a White supremacist?