Former president Donald Trump claimed that members of a Border Patrol union told him that they liked him more than Abraham Lincoln because he did a better job protecting US borders.
Trump made the bizarre comment about the 16th president during a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Monday. The statement comes after Trump criticized Lincoln for not settling the Civil War.
On Monday, Trump discussed the endorsement of a Border Patrol union, claiming that a union official had told him, “I’m the greatest president there’s ever been.”
“I said, ‘what about George Washington?’ ... No, you’re better ... ‘What about Lincoln? What about Abraham Lincoln?’ ... Nope, you’re better,” Trump recalled, according to USA Today.
“He said I’m tougher on the border than Abraham Lincoln, right, than Honest Abe,” he added.
During a recent appearance on Fox News, Trump said: “Lincoln was probably a great president. Although I’ve always said, why wasn’t that settled, you know? I’m a guy that — it doesn’t make sense we had a civil war.”
In January, Trump again commented on the Civil War, saying that it was “so fascinating, so horrible.”
“So many mistakes were made. See, there was something I think could have been negotiated, to be honest with you,” he added. “I think you could have negotiated that. All the people died, so many people died. You know, that was the disaster.”
“Abraham Lincoln, of course, if he negotiated it, you probably wouldn’t even know who Abraham Lincoln was,” he said.
Trump has also repeatedly claimed that Lincoln is the only president who has done more for Black people than him.
The National Border Patrol Council endorsed Trump during a rally in Arizona earlier this month. Border Patrol agent Paul Perez said, “America, I have a message for you. If we allow border czar Harris to win this election, every city, every community in this great country is going to go to hell.”
Republicans have repeatedly falsely claimed that Harris has been put in charge of border security. The vice president was tasked with looking at the root causes of immigration.
