A Democratic state senator in the United States has ignited a political firestorm after being captured on surveillance footage grinning while removing a historical exhibition celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary.
A Controversial Act Caught on Camera
Omaha representative Machaela Cavanaugh, 46, was filmed on Wednesday tearing down framed posters that had been installed outside her office in the Nebraska State Capitol. The display was part of the 'Founders Museum', a travelling exhibition created by the conservative educational non-profit PragerU to mark America's semiquincentennial.
In an interview with local broadcaster WOWT, Cavanaugh stated she did not examine the content before taking it down. 'I didn’t read them, I didn’t look at them,' she said. 'If you ask me what ones I took down, I couldn’t tell you. I just took down the things that were on the wall in my hallway.'
Clashing Justifications and Condemnation
The senator claimed her primary motivation was a rule prohibiting state senators from displaying materials in the public hallways outside their offices. 'I thought: "Well, I’m not allowed to have things lining the hall of my office,"' she explained, adding that she stacked the items inside her office and informed the state patrol.
Her actions were swiftly condemned. PragerU CEO Marissa Streit labelled the act 'anti-American'. Republican Governor Jim Pillen criticised Cavanaugh on social media platform X, calling her behaviour 'shameful and selfish'. He linked it to her previous filibustering in 2023 and stated that celebrating the nation's 250th year 'should be a moment of unity and patriotism, not divisiveness'.
The Exhibition at the Heart of the Row
The exhibition, installed this week, consists of 82 paintings along the first-floor hallway. It features portraits of founding fathers, signers of the Declaration of Independence, and figures like Betsy Ross. The White House has endorsed the museum and collaborated on its creation.
However, the display has attracted controversy from left-leaning critics who argue it blurs historical lines. A significant point of contention is the inclusion of 40 AI-generated videos that animate historical figures. In one, John Adams states, 'Facts do not care about your feelings,' a phrase popularised by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
The Nebraska Administrative Code permits short-term displays in the capitol, typically limited to about one week in the First Floor Rotunda. This exhibition, however, was scheduled to remain until summer, potentially conflicting with those guidelines. Cavanaugh maintains she was unaware of the display's installation or its connection to the semiquincentennial, and also stated she does not know what PragerU is.
