Trump Misidentifies Sculpture in Oval Office While Saying Statues Help Teach History

Matt Novak
6/29/20 7:50AM •

In a bizarre interview with Fox News last night, President Trump stood next to a sculpture in the Oval Office that he said depicts former president Teddy Roosevelt, and explained that statues are vital to learning about history. Trump went on to complain that some people want to tear down statues of President Roosevelt, just like the art in his office. The only problem? The sculpture Trump was talking about isn’t Teddy Roosevelt. It’s an anonymous cowboy from the 1890s.

“Every president chooses what to put around them,” Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade said during the interview while pointing at the various pieces of art in the Oval Office. “You chose Lincoln as a bust and Lincoln as a picture. You chose Andrew Jackson, and is that Teddy Roosevelt?”

“Yes,” Trump says about the sculpture that is definitely not Teddy Roosevelt. “And by the way, they’re taking down the statue of...”

“Teddy Roosevelt,” Kilmeade says, helping to finish Trump’s sentence.

“Teddy Roosevelt,” Trump finally spits out. “So, explain that one.”

The sculpture in the Oval Office of the White House is called The Bronco Buster and was originally designed in 1895 by Frederic Remington. The sculpture was partially inspired by Remington’s own illustration in an 1888 issue of Century Magazine which accompanied an article by Teddy Roosevelt, according to the White House Historical Association. Some of Roosevelt’s fellow “Rough Riders” from the Spanish-American War even gifted him a version of the statue that was displayed in his private home in New York, and this connection may have led to Trump’s confusion.

Either that or the president is just an idiot.

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