White House quotes ‘The Sopranos’ to defend Columbus amid statue rumors

The White House shared a popular quote from “Sopranos” main character Tony Soprano amid reports that President Donald Trump plans to erect a new statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.

The Washington Post reported that Trump “plans to build a facility.” Statue of Christopher Columbus It is on White House grounds, according to three people with knowledge of the pending move.” The report also noted that the work “is a reconstruction of a statue unveiled in Baltimore by then-President Ronald Reagan and thrown into the city’s harbor by protesters amid a racial reckoning that swept the country in 2020.”

While the White House did not confirm the plans to the Washington Post, White House spokesman Davis Ingle’s response to them went viral: “In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero. And he will continue to be honored as such by President Trump.”

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The response went viral because it was an apparent reference to Tony Soprano, the mob boss and anti-hero of HBO’s hit series “The Sopranos.” In the famous scene, Tony and his wife talk to their son about his education; Here his teacher was discussing in class that Columbus would be tried for war crimes if he were alive today.

“He discovered that he made America!” Tony Soprano scolds his son AJ. “He was a brave Italian explorer and Christopher Columbus is a hero in this house, end of story!”

Revered for his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, which paved the way for European exploration of the Americas, Columbus is also heavily scrutinized by activists and academics for his treatment of Indigenous people and the beginning of mass colonization.

The White House also declined to comment on plans to erect a statue.

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Statues of Christopher Columbus and other controversial historical figures have been defaced in recent years. (Jennifer Mitchell for Fox News Digital)

Amid debates about American history, Trump argued that people like Columbus should be judged by the standards of their time, not the standards of the modern era.

When Columbus Day took place last October, the White House published a statement calling him “the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the bravest and most visionary men to ever walk the earth.”

The statement then continued: “In recent years, Christopher Columbus has been the primary target of a violent and brutal campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage.” “Before our eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, sullied his character, and sought to banish him from our public spaces. Under my leadership, those days are finally over – and our Nation will now remain true to one simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is forever indebted to his relentless determination.”

The president’s rapid response network also directly shared a clip from that famous scene from “The Sopranos” last April.

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President Donald Trump’s White House has defended Christopher Columbus as a hero. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

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