Norman Rockwell’s granddaughter called out President Donald Trump’s administration for hijacking her grandfather’s artwork to promote their politics.
In a new interview, Daisy Rockwell addressed Trump’s Department of Homeland Security repeatedly using her grandfather’s artwork on social media, noting that the current administration’s anti-immigration values directly contradict what the famed painter stood for.
“They used [the paintings] . . . as though his work aligned with their values, i.e., promoting this segregationist vision of America,” Daisy told The Bulwark on Sunday. “And so of course we were upset by this, because Norman Rockwell was really very clearly anti-segregationist.”
In fact, Daisy went as far as to state that “Norman Rockwell was Antifa,” given his artwork served as World War II propaganda against Nazi Germany.
This is why the Rockwell family has been vocal about their disdain for the Department of Homeland Security utilizing the artwork to further their controversial immigration policies.
Back in August, DHS shared Norman Rockwell’s “Salute the Flag” painting on Instagram and wrote, “Protect our American way of life.” Then, in September, DHS used his 1946 painting “Working on the Statue of Liberty” on a recruitment post, which read: “Protect your homeland. Defend your culture.”
In response to these posts, the Rockwell family issued a statement, blasting the Trump administration for co-opting his work.
“If Norman Rockwell were alive today, he would be devastated to see that not only does the problem Ruby Bridges confronted 65 years ago still plague us as a society, but that his own work has been marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color,” they wrote at the time.
They added: “We ‒ as his eldest son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren ‒ believe that now is the time to follow in his footsteps and stand for the values he truly wished to share with us and all Americans: compassion, inclusiveness and justice for all.”
The Rockwells aren’t the first prominent people to call out the Trump administration for using their art in order to promote a MAGA message. Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA have all condemned the administration after their respective music appeared in pro-ICE videos.
The White House has repeatedly doubled down on the social media posts, noting in a statement earlier this month: “We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”
