Woke staffers at James Madison’s Montpelier are scrambling to give themselves a patriotic image makeover — after public outcry over The Post’s report on the shameful treatment the Founding Father has been receiving at his own Virginia home.
Inflammatory political content was scrubbed from the landmark’s website within days of The Post’s July report. Just this week, Montpelier announced a freshly expanded, month-long “Constitution Day” celebration to mark the Sept. 17 anniversary of the document’s adoption.
“It’s a response to The Post’s coverage,” said researcher Brenda Hafera of the conservative Heritage Foundation. “Public opinion is having an impact.”
Critics accused staffers of smearing former President James Madison.GraphicaArtis/Getty Images
Lavish funding from left-leaning donors like David Rubenstein paid for a 2018 overhaul of the Madison family plantation. High-tech exhibits on slavery and current racial conflicts now take center stage there, shoving the author of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights into a supporting role.
Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s nearby home, has undergone a similar woke transformation.
As recently as July 19, Montpelier’s website included an “Independence Day Message” – issued in 2020, at the height of the George Floyd riots – that made no mention of the nation’s founding.
“Montpelier is committed to … amplify[ing] the stories of Black lives at Montpelier in support of Black Lives Matter,” the statement read. The historic home’s main aim, it said: to “investigate and share ways that the US Constitution has perpetuated and addressed racism throughout our nation’s complicated past.”
But by July 23, Internet archives show, the text had been excised from the website, leaving nothing but a “404 Error” message in its place.
Montpelier spokeswoman Christy Moriarty claimed the deletion was routine.
Montpelier staffers voted to support the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.Adrienne Eichner/eichnerstudios.com
“We move content on our website all the time, activating and deactivating pages and posts,” she said. “There’s no anti-American conspiracy here.”
No other Independence Day or July 4 messaging appears anywhere on the home’s website.
Meanwhile, a new web page posted Tuesday announced a series of September events meant to “highlight the US Constitution, the life of James Madison, and the contributions of the enslaved community.”
A gallery showcasing busts and artwork owned by former President James Madison.Adrienne Eichner/eichnerstudios.com
Three $35 “Constitution Tours” and four $10 “Bill of Rights Tours” will be given over the course of the month – attractions that were not offered for Constitution Day in the past.
But plans for the celebration, starting in just two weeks, appear to be still in development, and as of Friday, registration information was still listed as “coming soon.”
“We have been working on Constitution Month for months,” Moriarty said. “That must be frustrating to those who prefer the recent false narrative that Montpelier now ignores the Constitution.”
Montpelier spokeswoman Christy Moriarty insists the Constitution is highlighted at James Madison’s plantation home.Adrienne Eichner/eichnerstudios.com
She would not explain why key details of the events were still up in the air, and would not share the tours’ scripts or outlines.
“Come on down and see for yourself how robustly we talk about the Constitution and Bill of Rights,” the spokeswoman said.
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