Trump Questions Why Civil War Could Not Have Been “Worked Out”

Trump: “Why Was There The Civil War? Why Could That One Not Have Been Worked Out?” According to The Associated Press, President Donald Trump said, “People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?” in an interview with The Washington Examiner. Trump added, “People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?” and he claimed that President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the war started, was angry about it. Trump later defended his remarks, which also aired on Sirius XM radio, on Twitter, writing, “President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the Civil War started, saw it coming and was angry. Would never have let it happen!” From the May 2 article:

The U.S. president had a historical question: Why did America's Civil War happen? “Why could that one not have been worked out?”

Remarks by Donald Trump, aired Monday, showed presidential uncertainty about the origin and necessity of the Civil War, a defining event in U.S. history with slavery at its core. Trump also declared that President Andrew Jackson was angry about “what was happening” with regard to the war, which started 16 years after his death, and could have stopped it if still in office.

Trump, who has at times shown a shaky grasp of U.S. history, questioned why issues couldn't have been settled to prevent the war that followed the secession of 11 Southern states from the Union and brought death to more than 600,000 Americans, North and South.

“People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Examiner that also aired on Sirius XM radio. “People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?”

In fact, the causes of the Civil War are frequently discussed, from middle school classrooms to university lecture halls and in countless books. Immigrants seeking to become naturalized are sometimes asked to name a cause of the war in their citizenship tests.

[...]

Trump's comments about the war came after he lauded Jackson, the populist president whom he and his staff have cited as a role model. He suggested that if Jackson had been president “a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War.”

“He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, 'There's no reason for this,'” Trump continued.

Jackson died in 1845. The Civil War began in 1861. In a tweet Monday night, Trump revisited the point he was trying to make: “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 Associated Press, 5/2/17]

Historians: Trump’s Remarks “Will Get Applause From Neo-Confederate Circles.” Historian Douglas Brinkley told Politico that Trump's remarks about the Civil War are “the kind of comment[s] that will get applause from neo-Confederate circles in the South.” Fellow historian Jon Meacham, while on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said that Trump’s claim questioning why there was a Civil War “only comes up … in neo-Confederate circles.” [Politico, 5/1/17; MSNBC, Morning Joe, 5/2/17]

White Nationalists And Neo-Nazis Praise Trump’s Remarks: "He Remains ‘Uncucked’ In His Heart Of Hearts”

Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer: Trump Is “Right” Because “None Of The Modern Wars … Have Advanced The White Race And Our Shared Civilization.” Richard Spencer, the neo-Nazi operator of AltRight.com, wrote that Trump’s remarks were “right” because “none of the modern wars—especially, the ‘good’ ones—have advanced the White race and our shared civilization.” Spencer added that “Trump’s statement undermines the post-Christian guilt complex at the heart of contemporary American ‘conservatism,’” which he said “indicates that, despite his failings, he remains ‘uncucked’ in his heart of hearts.” From the May 1 article (emphasis original):

So Trump was a little fuzzy with dates . . . nothing new there . . . but in his remarks on Andrew Jackson, he gave us a pearl of wisdom.

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What Trump said is radical and triggering—and not because he was playing fast and loose with historical facts. Trump didn’t say “The South was Right!” or “We Shall Rise Again!” which could have been easily dismissed by the chattering classes, and which would have been a rather strange sentiment for a Manhattanite in charge of the federal government.

Trump’s statement is, arguably, more radical than the good-old-fashioned “Resurgamus!” because it envisions a world without European brothers’ wars.

None of the modern wars—especially, the “good” ones—have advanced the White race and our shared civilization. The Civil War decimated Anglo-America, which was replaced by the Melting Pot. The Great War brought an end to the Westphalian order, and European preeminence in the world, and opened up space for Bolshevism. The Second World War not only led to the deaths of tens of millions but permanently neutered European states, turning them into vassals of “capitalist” America or “Communist” Russia—an arrangement that eventuated in unipolar “Americanism” and the dispossession of White peoples in their own lands.

Trump is right. Better that none of these wars were fought. Better still that White men never imported Africans into the North American continent, removing the catalyst for Civil War as well as countless other tragedies.

[...]

More important still, Trump’s statement undermines the post-Christian guilt complex at the heart of contemporary American “conservatism.” A figure like Ted Cruz would neither argue that the South should have won nor that the Civil War should have been avoided.

[...]

Trump seems unburdened by this political theology. This indicates that, despite his failings, he remains “uncucked” in his heart of hearts. [AltRight.com, 5/1/17; Media Matters, 8/25/16]

David Duke: “Trump’s Right About The UnCivil War.” Notorious white nationalist and anti-Semitic radio host David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, praised Trump on Twitter for being “right about the UnCivil War.” He added, “The South did the same thing as the USA against Britain: Independence” and that “The Yankee horrific invasion proved” that “Northern radicals were dictating” to the South.

[Twitter, 5/1/17, 5/1/17, 5/1/17, 5/1/17, 5/1/17]

VDare: Trump’s Remarks “‘Offensive’ Only To Those Who Actively Enjoy White People Being Killed.” VDare, a racist anti-immigrant website named for Virginia Dare, the first white settler in America, wrote on Twitter that Trump’s Civil War remarks were “‘offensive’ only to those who actively enjoy white people being killed.” The site also tweeted, “When we had a nation, The Civil War was viewed as tragic for both sides. Now, ‘kill whitey’ is culture of modern USA.”

[Twitter, 5/1/17, 5/1/17, 5/1/17; Media Matters, 8/25/16]

White Nationalists Have Repeatedly Supported Trump

White Nationalists Vehemently Supported Trump Throughout His Presidential Campaign. At various points throughout the presidential campaign, white nationalists indicated that they saw Trump as the “last stand” for their movement. Racist groups praised Trump’s stance on immigration, backed his anti-Muslim policy proposals, hailed an anti-Semitic tweet he wrote, and more. [Media Matters, 11/16/16]

Trump And His Campaign Had A Disturbing Level Of Interaction With White Nationalists. Trump repeatedly refused to denounce neo-Nazis and white supremacists like David Duke during his campaign, selected a white nationalist leader as a convention delegate, gave press credentials to white nationalist James Edwards, and promoted anti-Semitic writers. [Media Matters, 11/16/16]

White Nationalists Showered Trump With Praise For His Attempted Muslim Ban And Sean Spicer For His Holocaust Remarks. Racist writers expressed “ecstatic joy” over Trump’s executive order attempting to bar people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and called on Trump to arrest or impeach federal judges who block the ban. They also lauded the White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s incorrect remarks while discussing Syria that Adolf Hitler “didn't even sink to using chemical weapons.” [Media Matters, 1/30/17, 4/12/17]

Image by Dayanita Ramesh