Donald Trump’s rambling rally speech raises questions

Donald Trump’s mention of the “beautiful” Battle of Gettysburg during a campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania on Saturday drew attention to the former president on social media, with users calling his ramblings a “rant.” I wondered what it was about.

“Gettysburg, what an incredible battle that was,” Trump said as he addressed a crowd in the town wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. “It was so much, so interesting, so vicious, so scary, and so beautiful in so many ways. It represented so much of this country’s success,” he continued.

“Gettysburg, it’s amazing. I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to see and see,” he said. “And the statement by Robert E. Lee, who is no longer a supporter, have you noticed? He is no longer a supporter. ‘Never Fight on the Hill, Guys, Never Fight on the Hill. Please.” They were fighting uphill, he said, “Wow, that was a big mistake,” he lost a great general, “Guys, never fight uphill.” , but it was too late,” he added.

newsweek Trump’s 2024 campaign team was contacted for comment via email Sunday morning.

Saturday’s rally was President Trump’s first major campaign event in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that President Joe Biden is expected to visit in the coming days. He will reportedly make three stops next week, starting in his hometown of Scranton.

Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, the most of any battleground state in the country, could make the difference between the two candidates in November, as it has in the past. Trump won the state over Hillary Clinton in 2016 by less than 45,000 votes, but lost to Biden in 2020 by less than 1.5 percentage points, or about 80,000 votes.

After the former president’s rally on Saturday, social media users, journalists and strategists echoed Trump’s reference to the Battle of Gettysburg, fought between Confederate and Federal troops from July 1 to 3, 1863. attracted attention.

“Donald Trump doesn’t know anything about the Battle of Gettysburg in the first place. He shouldn’t even try to be a historian. His lack of deep knowledge becomes immediately apparent.” User formerly on Twitter wrote X He claims to be a Ron DeSantis supporter.

“Trump went on a bizarre rant about the Battle of Gettysburg, then pointed out about Robert E. Lee, saying, ‘He doesn’t support me anymore. Have you ever noticed that?'” journalist Aaron Looper wrote. Ta. Confederate General Lee led the slaveholding states of the South toward the end of the Civil War.

“When you get an essay question on a test you didn’t study for,” one user wrote on the social media platform, mocking President Trump’s references to combat.

Many users also wondered how the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, in which an estimated 23,000 Federal and 28,000 Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured over a three-day period, could be called “beautiful.” I wondered if that was the case. Although the Civil War officially ended nearly two years after Gettysburg, this bloody battle is considered the turning point in the Union’s final victory in 1865.

The Battle of Gettysburg wasn’t the first time President Trump mentioned the Civil War during his 2024 campaign this year. Speaking at a rally in Iowa in January, the former president said the war “could have been avoided through negotiation.” At the time, Trump did not say how the conflict could have been avoided, but said he found the conflict “very scary, but very fascinating.”

CNN commentator Karen Finney, a distant descendant of Mr. Lee and a freed slave from Virginia, wrote an op-ed in January warning of the dangers of those seeking to rewrite the story of the Civil War.

“We cannot indulge or ignore false narratives, either in our society, in the history we teach in our schools, or in presidential campaigns,” she wrote.