President Donald Trump called the American Museum of Natural History’s decision to remove a statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt “ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous, don’t do it!” the president tweeted Monday. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Trump Says Some Governors Made ‘Tragic Mistakes’ With Nursing Home Coronavirus Policies)
Ridiculous, don’t do it! https://t.co/VYez8p9AJh
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020
The statue stands at the entrance of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and depicts Roosevelt on horseback, next to a Native American man and a man of African descent.
Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he supported the museum’s decision to take down the “problematic statue.”
“The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior,” de Blasio said, according to NPR. “The City supports the Museum’s request. It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue.”
New York City: The American Museum of Natural History announced it will remove a statue of former president Theodore Roosevelt that depicts him towering over a Native American man and an African man. https://t.co/8f8mbmyDUl pic.twitter.com/TojPCShoDr
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 22, 2020
Statues of historical figures throughout the world have come under intensified scrutiny amid protests against racism and police brutality, which are ongoing in the wake of George Floyd’s death during police custody. (RELATED: Winston Churchill Statue Covered Up After London Protests)
The president has pushed back against efforts to remove statues in the U.S., and recently criticized Washington, D.C.’s police department after a confederate statue was toppled outside their headquarters.
“The D.C. Police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn,” Trump said at the time. “These people should be immediately arrested.”