October 19, 2024
Trump Says Lincoln Would Have Been A Better President Had He ‘Settled’ With The South Over Slavery
Trump claimed Abraham Lincoln could have been "better" had he avoided the Civil War by allowing the South to keep slavery as an institution.
Former President Donald Trump sat down with Fox News on Oct. 18 and delivered some rather concerning remarks in response to a 10-year-old boy’s question about who his favorite president is. During the interview, Trump suggested that 16th President Abraham Lincoln could have avoided the Civil War by cutting a deal with the South, which would have allowed slavery to remain legal in some form.
During a segment of the Fox News broadcast, the young boy asked Trump who his favorite president was when he was little.
Trump began by saying he liked Ronald Reagan when he was younger. Trump was 34 when Reagan took office.
“I liked Ronald Reagan. Look, I didn’t love his trade policy…I’ve made some great trade deals for us, the US. That wasn’t his strength, but he had a great dignity about him. You could say ‘There’s our president’ more than any other,” Trump began. He continued by saying that he believed Lincoln was a great president who could have been better had he “settled” with the South before the Civil War.
“Great presidents?” Trump began, “Lincoln was probably a great president, although I’ve always said, why wasn’t that settled? You know, I’m a guy that—it doesn’t make sense we had a Civil War…. You’d almost say, like, why wasn’t that [settled]? As an example, Ukraine would have never happened, and Russia, if I were president. Israel would have never happened; October 7 would have never happened, as you know.”
Trump didn’t continue to explain exactly what he believed Lincoln should have done to assuage the South, which wanted to keep the institution of slavery in place, but he affirmed that Lincoln should have “settled” the dispute.
The Civil War began after the Southern states seceded from the Union, largely due to tensions over slavery.
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