Donald Trump’s poor grasp of US history has again been exposed after he attempted to weigh in over plans to move a statue of Thomas Jefferson in New York City.
A monument of the Founding Father and the United States’s third president currently stands in the City Council Chamber but it has been announced that it will be moved in the near future due to Jefferson’s history as a slaveowner.
Although it has not been revealed where the statue will be moved to, Trump couldn’t contain his rage at the thought of Jefferson being relocated and issued one of his now infamous statements on the issue.
Trump wrote: “Well, it’s finally happened. The late, great Thomas Jefferson, one of our most important Founding Fathers, and a principal writer of the Constitution of the United States, is being “evicted” from the magnificent New York City Council Chamber. Who would have ever thought it was possible (I did and called it long ago!).”
“ Next up, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and, of course, George Washington...The Radical Left has gone crazy, and it’s hurting our Country badly—But someday soon, sane people will be back, and our country will be respected again!”
NEW!
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) October 19, 2021
President Donald J. Trump:
"Well, it’s finally happened. The late, great Thomas Jefferson, one of our most important Founding Fathers, and a principal writer of the Constitution of the United States, is being “evicted” from the magnificent New York City Council Chamber... pic.twitter.com/XXdrGyrpMn
In terms of statements, it is hardly as offensive as what he said about Colin Powell following the former secretary of state’s death on Monday, but Trump should have really gotten a history book out before he started typing away.
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While Jefferson is credited as a principal author of the Declaration of Independence, he didn’t actually write the constitution and he wasn’t even at the Constitutional Convention as he was in France at the time.
As always with Trump, people were more than happy to point out this rather embarrassing historical oversight, which could have been answered with a simple Google search, from the former US president.
I mean pic.twitter.com/wJoZLue2Rw
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) October 19, 2021
Jefferson didn’t write the Constitution.
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 19, 2021
It's difficult to argue that removing a statue of a historical figure erases history when you can't even get the basic facts straight.
— Kevin M. Levin (@KevinLevin) October 19, 2021
Thomas Jefferson was in France when the Constitution was debated and written. pic.twitter.com/vA3G63O9Hu
You'd think that a former president of the United States would have the cursory knowledge that Thomas Jefferson did not actually write any of the Constitution, as he was in France at the time. But hey, it's Trump. https://t.co/fyoq69j9lo
— Mike Rothschild (@rothschildmd) October 19, 2021
Quick, Hamilton fans … where was Jefferson during the Constitutional Convention? https://t.co/2Mt7bRrYdH
— Ilana Keller (@IlanaKeller) October 19, 2021
Not only was Jefferson not "a principal writer of the constitution," he wasn't even a member of the convention. Jefferson was in France at the time.
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) October 19, 2021
It's amazing that the same people who scream about teaching 'real history' to students have very little grasp on it https://t.co/Xr6Tfa3rnj
Not that it matters with his crew but in fact Thomas Jefferson was in Europe when the constitution was written. Constitution, declaration, who can tell them apart. https://t.co/paZ6MXtnZy
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 19, 2021
This is hardly the first time that Trump has displayed a shockingly poor grasp of US history. Other incidents have included claiming Andrew Jackson, who was already dead, was really ‘angry’ about the Civil War and thinking that airports existed during the Revolutionary War.
