This has made the Washington Post’s Gabriel Pogrund Very Upset
President Trump praised the Confederate general Robert E. Lee whilst asking African American voters to “honor us†by voting for him at an Ohio rally which included an unexpected and provocative monologue on America’s Civil War history.
Addressing an open-air rally of around 4,000 supporters, Trump appeared buoyant as he declared that Lee was a “true great fighter†and “great general.†He also said Abraham Lincoln once had a “phobia†of the Southern leader, whose support of slavery has made his legacy a heavily contested and divisive issue.
The comments came during an anecdote about Ohio-born president Ulysses S. Grant’s alleged drinking problems. “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. “They said to Lincoln, ‘You can’t use him anymore, he’s an alcoholic.’ And Lincoln said, ‘I don’t care if he’s an alcoholic, frankly, give me six or seven more just like him.’ He started to win.â€
Minutes earlier, Trump had hailed African American unemployment numbers and asked black voters to “honor us†by voting Republican in November. “Get away from the Democrats,†he told them. “Think of it: we have the best numbers in history … I think we’re going to get the African American vote. And it’s true.†He also celebrated hip-hop artist Kanye West’s visit to the Oval Office on Thursday, adding: “What he did was pretty amazing.â€
Trump’s speech threatened to reignite a highly divisive debate over America’s racial history with just weeks to go until the midterms. Trump has previously defended statues commemorating Confederate leaders, tweeting last year: “Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments.†Critics say such statues glorify historic advocates of slavery.
So, that third paragraph, where the actual context is supposed to reside, is rather tortured, is it not? The article goes on to mention that Ulysses S. Grant being a native born Ohioan, which was the point of the what Trump was saying. Twitchy has a post up about “you’re about to see libs attack Trump” over the Robert E. Lee quote, which includes
WATCH: President Trump says "Robert E. Lee was a great general" during Ohio rally, calling the Confederate leader "incredible." pic.twitter.com/HhsLI1Mk05
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 13, 2018
But
If you listen to the clip, he’s clearly telling a story and building to the point of Lincoln appointing Grant as Lt. General and head of Army of the Potomac, where he proceeded to take Lee on and win where other Union generals had failed. Y’all are such hacks. https://t.co/SfOC9G196d
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
Trump speaks of the Union generals that came before Grant; great generals, head of their class at West Point, but they didn’t know how to win. And Trump is right. McClellan was a disaster, and would have preferred to keep his army in camp instead of fighting. 2/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
Cam provides a lot more context, worth reading his tweets over at the Twitchy post. And this is yet another example of why the Leftist news media is untrustworthy.
Lee was, in fact, a great fighter and a great general. His record before the Civil War as part of the U.S. military was spectacular, and he did pretty well during the Civil War, up to a point. Even though he was a part of the German military during WWII, we can say that Rommel was a hell of a general, can we not? Admiral Yamamoto was a hell of an admiral, right?
