Trump claims ‘nobody ever heard’ Abraham Lincoln was a Republican until he pointed it out
US president’s improbable claim made during roundtable discussion on Venezuela
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has claimed that until he became US president “nobody ever heard” that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican.
The US president’s improbable claim came during a roundtable discussion on Venezuela at his Doral golf resort in Florida, in which he largely ignored the issue of the South American country and instead praised his administration’s handling of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 135,000 Americans.
“The Republican Party has grown incredibly from when it was and we have a whole different group of people in the Republican Party,” Mr Trump said on Friday.
“Like people don’t remember, nobody ever heard of it until I came along, nobody remembered it for a long time, or they didn’t use it at least, I use it all the time: Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. You know you say that and people say, ‘I didn’t know that’, but he was Republican, so we’re doing a great job.”
In fact, Lincoln, who abolished slavery and led the Union to victory in the American civil war, is the first and one of the most iconic Republican presidents in history.
He came second only to Ronald Reagan in a poll voted on by Americans over the title of “greatest American” in history.
During the roundtable, Mr Trump also falsely accused rival nominee for president Joe Biden of trying to “impose socialism” on the US, wrongly suggested the Democratic Party wanted to “rip down statues to Jesus”, and said cities with Democrat political leaders were “going to hell”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments