President Trump's comments about Andrew Jackson and the Civil War, broadcast on SiriusXM Monday, led many to take issue with what they saw as an impossibility of time—and so the president took to Twitter Monday night in an apparent attempt to clear things up. Though Trump originally told the Washington Examiner's Salena Zito that had Jackson "been a little bit later you wouldn't have had the Civil War" (seemingly demonstrating his understanding that Jackson's term/life preceded the war), a subsequent comment that Jackson "saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War" led to a backlash, with many pointing out Jackson's 1845 death occurred 16 years before the war's start. Trump's tweet doubled-down on his claim, but also clarified his understanding of the timeline:
"President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the Civil War started, saw it coming and was angry. Would never have let it happen!" The Hill points out that Trump in March likened his campaign to Jackson's, telling a Nashville crowd he "confronted and defied an arrogant elite. Does that sound familiar?" Also familiar: late-night hosts lapping up the controversy. Stephen Colbert suggested there was some credence to the idea Jackson could have averted the war, and pictured Jackson saying, "We don't need a Civil War, all my slaves are perfectly happy." Seth Meyers picked up on Trump's comment that people don't ask why the war happened, picturing this battlefield letter: "Dearest Elizabeth, ... Today, I bayonetted my own brother. 'For what purpose?' he cried out, and I of course, could only respond, 'I do not know. Nobody knows.'" (More President Trump stories.)
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