Governor Jim Pillen took to social media on Wednesday to criticize Omaha State Senator Machaela Cavanaugh for taking down portions of a temporary historical exhibit inside the Nebraska State Capitol.
Pillen says these include Declaration of Independence signers and prominent women in American history, among others. Pillen shared a 40 second video that appears to show Cavanaugh taking down several displays and there is a photo showing the items on her office floor.
“Celebrating America during our 250th year should be a moment of unity and patriotism, not divisiveness and destructive partisanship. I am disappointed in this shameful and selfish bad example,” Pillen says.
The displays feature material made by the conservative group PragerU and were put up in the state Capitol as part of the United States’ 250th anniversary. Cavanaugh told KLIN media partner 10/11 that senators are prohibited from putting items on the walls in the hallway outside their offices. She said the posters line the entire hallway around the first floor, but she only took down the ones outside her office.
“When I walked in this morning and saw these poster boards lining the hallway of my office, I thought well I’m not allowed to have things lining the hall of my office. I tried to take them down as gently as I could and not damage any of them, and I stacked them inside of my office and I let the state patrol know that they were there,” Cavanaugh says.
See the video and Governor’s post below.