Donald Trump is a master of the art of the deal. He even hired a ghostwriter (who later denounced him) to write a book with that very title. He claims he could stop any major conflict through mere talk. Nevermind that his attempts to bluster his way into overturning an election loss only got him indicted. Regardless, he thinks negotiating can solve any crisis, even historical ones. For instance, the Civil War? Wouldn’t have even happened on his watch.
Trump claims Civil War didn't have to happen: "You could've negotiated that … this is something that could've been negotiated … that was a tough one for our country … if you negotiated it, you probably wouldn't even know who Abraham Lincoln was … that would've been okay" pic.twitter.com/pmPSSTDhqv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2024
“The Civil War was so fascinating, so horrible,” Trump said at a rally on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot, which he helped foment and in which multiple people died. “So many mistakes were made.”
But Trump would have done things differently. “You see, that was something that could have been negotiated, to be honest with you,” he speculated. “I think you could have negotiated that. All those people died, so many people died.” He added that it was “just such a sort of a horrible time.”
Still, Trump said he was “reading something,” which got him thinking. “I said, this is something that could have been negotiated,” he told the crowd, saying that there was “nothing nice” about the Civil War (except maybe that it led to the emancipation of slaves, perhaps).
Trump then turned his sights on arguably the most esteemed Republican president (at a time when the Republican party was very different than it is today): Abraham Lincoln.
“Of course, if he negotiated it, you probably wouldn’t even know who Abraham Lincoln was,” he said. “He would have been president, but he would have been president, he would have been, he wouldn’t have been the Abraham Lincoln. He would have been different. But that would have been okay.”
Trump noted that the northern and southern states, “just couldn’t get along,” but insisted that their beef — over things like states’ rights when it came to enslaving human beings — “could have been negotiated, and then they wouldn’t have had that problem. It was a hell of a time.”
Trump didn’t go into specifics about what could have been negotiated. Is he suggesting that Lincoln should have cut a deal that allowed perhaps some slavery? Is he upset about the outcome after the South lost? It’s hard to tell with someone whose brain has so turned into mush that he understands magnets less than Insane Clown Posse does. Incidentally, this man is running for president, again.
(Via CNN)