Donald Trump doesn’t have a background in history, nor does he show much interest in learning much about it. And that was evident in Ohio Friday night.
The President, offering a bit of a strange history lesson from the Book of Trump, claimed President Abraham Lincoln had a “phobia” because he kept losing to Robert E. Lee during the Civil War.
“So Robert E. Lee was a great general. And Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia. He couldn’t beat Robert E. Lee. He was going crazy. I don’t know if you know this story. But Robert E. Lee was winning battle after battle after battle. And Abraham Lincoln came home, he said, ‘I can’t beat Robert E. Lee,'” Trump said.
While true that Lincoln was often frustrated about the war, there is no evidence he developed a phobia about Lee. In fact, the Union had claimed numerous early victories. In 1861, the North overwhelmed the South in the Battle of Big Bethel, Battle of Boonville and Battle of Hoke’s Run.
Then there was that famous (to anyone who has read a history book) Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, where Lee was vanquished. But Trump was on a roll.
“And he had all of his generals, they looked great, they were the top of their class at West Point. They were the greatest people. There’s only one problem — they didn’t know how the hell to win. They didn’t know how to fight. They didn’t know how,” he continued.
In truth, they did win.
Lee was defeated by the northern army and he surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865. The Civil War ended a month later and slaves were freed across the south.
Trump went on to say, multiple times, that Grant had a drinking problem, saying that the former president “knocked the hell out of everyone” as a Union general.
“Man was he a good general. And he’s finally being recognized as a great general,” Trump added.
Grant has always been regarded as one of the top military leaders in American history. It is his two terms as president that have often been debated.
Trump has drawn criticism for his defense of Confederate statues, including those of Robert E. Lee.
He drew widespread condemnation last year following a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va., saying that white nationalist protesters were there to oppose the removal of a “very, very important” statue.
The truth is Lincoln is the greatest president to have ever served in the White House. It is somewhat telling that Trump prefers to keep mentioning Robert E. Lee, the military leader Lincoln defeated, rather than the man who has come to represent the soul of America.
You must not have listened to the whole speech. He was praising Lee in a build up of a story. He was saying that Lee was great but Grant was greater. If you didn’t get that, then you are one of the people who are so anti-Trump that you cannot figure out what is really being said.
I listened to the whole speech. He was saying that Lincoln was smart in bringing in Grant. You are perpetuating FAKE NEWS.
Nothing “fake” about it, when Trump’s own words are quoted in the article. FAKE NEWS is a bumper sticker slogan for people who live in a narrow, partisan bubble.