Jillian Michaels defended her comments about White people during a heated debate on live television about slavery, race, and the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibits.
The conversation started when The Biggest Loser trainer joined a panel on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Thursday, Aug. 14. The panel was discussing President Donald Trump ordering a review of the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibits.
The Trump administration sent a letter on Tuesday, Aug. 12, to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III. The letter explained that the review’s purpose was to ensure the exhibits “celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Michaels argued that Trump is “not whitewashing slavery,” adding, “You cannot tie imperialism and racism and slavery to just one race, which is pretty much what every single [museum] exhibit does.”
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She continued, “Do you realize that only less than 2% of White Americans owned slaves? You realize that slavery is thousands of years old?”
Phillip pushed back, saying she was surprised Michaels was “trying to litigate who was the beneficiary of slavery.” She asked, “In the context of American history, what are you saying is incorrect by saying that it was White people oppressing Black people?”
Michaels responded, “Every single thing is like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, this is all because white people are bad and that’s just not the truth.’ Every single exhibit, I have a list of every single one, like people migrated from Cuba because White people are bad, not because of Castro. Yes. No, it’s in there.”
She also pointed to a Smithsonian installation called Change Your Game, which looks at gender testing in sports. “Is it fair to have biological men competing against biological women in sports? No. But why is this in the Smithsonian?” she asked.
Phillip reminded her the panel was meant to be about the arts, not race. Michaels replied that her main point was: “When you make every single exhibit about White imperialism when it isn’t relevant at all, that is a problem.”
She added, “So when you’re talking about Cubans leaving Cuba and you make it about White people bad, that’s not accurate.”
After the show aired, Michaels stood by her comments on X, posting a photo of one of the exhibits. She wrote, “Trump is not trying to ‘erase slavery’ by suggesting some of the installations there are inaccurate and bias.”
