Trump Put Michael Savage In Charge of a San Francisco Park, Where He Prompted Controversy Over Japanese-American Internment

Last year, former President Donald Trump appointed right-wing radio host Michael Savage to the board of directors of San Francisco’s Presidio Trust — where he not only caused chaos, but also railed against a museum dedicated to remembering the Japanese internment camps amid World War II, according to a Mother Jones report.

The Presidio Trust is a federal corporation that controls the roughly 1,200-acre urban park at the base of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, which also includes historic sites and the Presidio’s museum, known as the Heritage Gallery.

The museum has an exhibition titled “The Presidio’s Role in World War II Japanese American Incarceration,” which is dedicated to remembering the “dark chapter in American history” and the specific role Presidio played in that history.

“During World War II, the Presidio of San Francisco – the Army’s Western Defense Command – played a pivotal role in the unjust incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, purportedly in the name of national security,” reads the museum website. “This special exhibition marks 75 years since Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt issued Civilian Exclusion Orders from the Presidio, and examines the post’s little understood part in these events.”

Savage, now a director of Presidio, used his new leadership position to condemn a military heritage museum for focusing on the Japanese internment as opposed to “the greatness of the US Army.”

“You would think that the military heritage museum would show us the greatness of the US Army at the Presidio, but it doesn’t,” he said during a December broadcast. “Instead, it shows us big things about the Japanese internment.”

Savage also wrote an email to his colleagues regarding the exhibit, ranting, “Now that we are looking more closely at the Heritage exhibit, I want to discuss the INCLUSION OF THE DEFEAT OF [ADOLF] HITLER! There is far too much emphasis on the JAPANESE INTERNMENT.”

“And, while we are at it, we must emphasize that it was Franklin Roosevelt, a far left LIBERAL, who interred the Japanese,” he continued. “We must insist on HISTORICAL truths. When can we address these concerns?”

The same day, on his radio program, Savage mentioned the museum again, claiming, “Now, what if the president had been Obama and he had appointed someone to the board? They would remove the military history probably into a garbage can.”

Savage then sent the board another email, with the subject, “from a military historian and war hero.”

“The one thing I have found interesting is how the Trust has always been able to find a grievance to exploit,” he wrote. “Was it regrettable that the Japanese were interned? Yes, but the reason is more nuanced than the ‘racist’ one they will give you.”

Causing more chaos, Savage also sent an entirely capitalized email to Presidio Trust board members after he was asked to fill out a standard financial disclosure form:

“SINCE I AM NOT AN EMPLOYEE OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, NOR RECEIVING ANY COMPENSATION I SEE NO NEED TO FILL OUT THE ‘ETHICS’ FORM,” he exclaimed.

The board granted him an extension, which prompted Savage to send a second email, explaining that he and his wife “are in touch with the White House about this intrusive inquisition…To open up our PRIVATE financial arrangements, for a non-paying relationship, and expose ourselves to unknown individuals is not tenable. Especially in these troubling times.”

During the first public board meeting he attended, Savage was confronted by a Presidio resident, who took issue with the radio host’s “well-documented views [as they] relate to the trust’s diversity, equity, and inclusion plan.”

According to Mother Jones, she pointed to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which said Savage “subscribes to the white genocide conspiracy theory” and has blamed immigrants for the spread of disease.

The resident reportedly brought up comments he made about Muslims when board chair William Grayson, a wealth manager also appointed by Trump in 2017, interrupted her and asked her not to bring up the personal views of board members.

“WHO PERMITTED THE LAST SPEAKER TO ATTACK ME? HOW DID SHE GET ON THE LIST OF ‘APPROVED SPEAKERS’?” Savage wrote in another all-caps email following the meeting. When he was reminded that board meeting comments are not pre-screened because of the First Amendment, Savage responded, “Yes, I am aware of the ‘law’. Do not appreciate your lecture. Not what I asked. How did this hateful person get to be chosen?…Did she indicate she wanted to verbally abuse my good name?”

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