White House quotes Tony Soprano to defend Christopher Columbus amid reports of new statue celebrating explorer

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White House quotes Tony Soprano to defend Christopher Columbus amid reports of new statue celebrating explorer

Spokesman's viral response quotes HBO mob boss character amid reports Trump plans statue installation on White House grounds

Alexander Hall Fox News

Published

February 4, 2026 9:00pm EST

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Community leader celebrates explosion in Italian-American interest orgs since 2020 Columbus statue assault

Five years after statues of storied Italian explorer Christopher Columbus were toppled, beheaded and otherwise vandalized across America in the name of "social justice," the issue has once again been raised before the Columbus Day holiday.

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

The Washington Post reported that Trump is "planning to install a statue of Christopher Columbus on White House grounds, according to three people with knowledge of the pending move." The report added that the piece "is a reconstruction of a statue unveiled in Baltimore by then-President Ronald Reagan and dumped in the city’s harbor by protesters in 2020 as a racial reckoning swept the country."

While the White House did not confirm the plans to The Washington Post, White House spokesman Davis Ingle went viral for replying to them in a statement, "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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American actor James Gandolfini, as Tony Soprano, smokes a cigar while he stands in a pool, in publicity still for the HBO cable TV series 'The Sopranos,' 1999. (Anthony Neste/Getty Images)

The response went viral for being a clear 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 are talking with their son about his education, where his teacher had argued in class that Columbus, if alive today, would be on trial for war crimes.

"He discovered America is what he did!" Tony Soprano admonishes his son, AJ. "He was a brave Italian explorer, and in this house Christopher Columbus is a hero, end of story!"

While revered for his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that paved the way for European exploration in the Americas, Columbus has also been heavily scrutinized by activists and academics over his treatment of Indigenous people and the start of mass colonization.

The White House declined to comment on any plans to install a statue as well.

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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 has argued that people like Columbus should be judged by the standards of their time, rather than the standards of the modern era.

When Columbus Day occurred last October, the White House released a proclamation calling him "the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth."

"Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage," the proclamation later continued. "Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces. Under my leadership, those days are finally over — and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination."

The president’s rapid response network has also directly shared a clip from that famous scene in "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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Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com.

White House quotes Tony Soprano to defend Christopher Columbus amid reports of new statue celebrating explorer