Judge Cites George Orwell in Ruling Against Trump

[applegrove]

Judge Cites George Orwell in Ruling Against Trump

February 16, 2026 at 7:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 19 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2026/02/16/judge-cites-george-orwell-in-ruling-against-trump/

“A federal judge, evoking the dystopian world of George Orwell’s novel 1984, ordered the Trump administration on Monday to return a long-standing exhibit on slavery it removed from a popular historical museum in Philadelphia,” CNN reports.

Wrote U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe: “As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not.”

Washington Post: The Trump administration removed a slavery exhibit. A judge ordered it restored.

[efhmc]

1. That is great.

[stage left]

2. Brava Judge Rufe!