Scott Jennings Undertakes Herculean Task of Explaining What Trump Meant When He Said Lincoln Should’ve ‘Settled’ the Civil War
CNN’s Scott Jennings attempted the unenviable task of translating what he thought former President Donald Trump meant earlier in the day when he suggested Abraham Lincoln could have “settled” the American Civil War.
Trump told Fox News on Friday morning that he believed the country’s 16th president could have found a solution beyond a four-year armed conflict that remains the bloodiest war in American history.
“Lincoln was probably a great president, although I’ve always said, why wasn’t that settled?” Trump said. “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–? 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 made the comment in response to a question from a child who asked who his favorite president was when he was “little.” Trump initially cited Ronald Reagan – who was elected while the then-New York real estate developer was in his thirties.
On AC360 Friday night, host Anderson Cooper welcomed Jennings and Bakari Sellers to discuss Trump’s Fox News comments. Sellers commented that he believed Trump had no “grasp” on American history and was not fit to be president.
He added, “No matter what pretzel anybody turns himself into our eyes can tell the truth.”
Cooper then pivoted to Jennings, a veteran GOP strategist, to explain what he thought Trump meant by the comment. Jennings teed up the following response:
I mean, look, I think he has a general disposition that war is bad and that he’s running as an anti-war type candidate, and he believes that you should try to avoid war. So, I think that’s a general baseline position of his. I know he said this earlier this year as well. Lots of politicians did try to settle it, and never compromises, and punts, and all the way down the field. And then obviously we had the Civil War for the very obvious reason of eradicating slavery.
[…]
I mean, look, it’s sort of this sort of irrelevant, historical meandering. I mean, he got asked a simple question by a kid: who’s your favorite president? I’m, and I’m from Kentucky, I would say Abraham Lincoln, too, and that would also be my answer. Then I would have moved on to other Republicans that I revere like Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. So no, I look, it’s sort of esoteric or irrelevant historical kicking around what could have been, might have been, should have been, but no, it’s not a conversation I think is useful.
Pressed further by Cooper as to whether Trump was implying some slavery should have been allowed, Jennings said:
I mean, I don’t know, maybe – maybe he thinks that politicians could have negotiated an end to slavery without the bloodshed? I mean, that would be a charitable look at this, right? Maybe they could have settled it and gotten the South to agree to go – but again, look, we’re sitting here kicking around things that have happened so long ago and that have long has since been settled when we have so many pressing problems in this country, which is why he’s actually winning the election today. Because the pressing problems that people are blaming on Biden and Harris, that’s why he’s winning, not kicking around history, but kicking around the present day.
Watch above via CNN.
