It's Not Clear If Trump Knows The Confederacy Supported Slavery And Lost The Civil War

It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our Legendary Military Bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, etc. These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020

...history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom. The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020

...Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020

Does he realize that the Confederacy fought for slavery and lost? pic.twitter.com/HdNY3lUk9Y

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 10, 2020

Fort Bragg is named after Confederate general and traitorous loser Braxton Bragg. Not only was he a traitor, but he literally sucked ass as a general and lost too many battles to count. The fact that this loser has his name on an army base despite being such a loser is laughable.

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 10, 2020

Fort Hood is named after Confederate John Bell Hood, who was a slightly better general than Bragg but still a traitorous loser and all around piece of shit who lost his arm and then died like human garbage to yellow fever and Benning died of a stroke like a piece of shit too.

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 10, 2020

Here's the problem when you ONLY talk to people who say yes sir, no sir. Bragg, Hood, Benning all fought for the Confederate States of America, committing crimes of sedition, treason, Domestic Terrorism, etc. to keep African Americans enslaved. They aren't heroes #TrumpIsARacist pic.twitter.com/EFApdshPJB

— Eric Foster (@efoster_eric) June 10, 2020

The White House is clearly eager to stoke a political fight over whether it's a good idea to rename military bases named after Confederate military officials pic.twitter.com/28Q2s8wvmO

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 10, 2020

Kayleigh McEnany argues that renaming military bases named after Confederate generals could send the country down a slippery slope resulting in FDR's erasure from history pic.twitter.com/Q3aZJcjzJD

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 10, 2020

Incredible how the White House manages to make everything, even events on racism, about how people are being very nasty and unfair to Mr. Trump https://t.co/23Y6We8V9b

— Brian Tashman (@briantashman) June 10, 2020

Incredible? ... It's de rigueur.

In April 2017, Trump displayed his ignorance of American history while talking to Salena Zito of the Washington Examiner.

According to Zito on a CNN appearance, Trump had been looking at a portrait of the seventh president, Andrew Jackson, stating that "had Andrew Jackson been a little later," and if he had been president of the United States during the Civil War, there may not have been a war. Trump lamented that since Jackson "saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War" and was so concerned about it, he could have prevented the Civil War if he had been president.

Andrew Jackson was president from 1829-1837. He died in 1845, roughly 16 years before the Civil War began.

At the time, Maria T. Cardona of The Hill suggested Trump should

be a bit more curious about the world around him, about its history, about facts, about truth, about learning, about surrounding yourself with people who are subject matter experts, who know how to govern, who understand public policy, who have experience in politics, and to become perhaps a bit more erudite in the issues you are trying to change for the American people.

Trump's ignorance in history is alarming not only in and of itself, but more so because it betrays an ignorance in most things having to do with running the country. We have all heard just how incurious he is about the specifics of issues, about the nitty gritty on legislative proposals and policies. That is not even the worst of it.

We have had other presidents who did not show a high-level of intellectual rigor. But they surrounded themselves with a team who did and who could inform their boss of the effects of what they were trying to do, how it would impact real people, and at the very least, ensure the president knew what was in hallmark legislation when the president spoke about it publicly. ...

[Expecting Trump to understand what he's talking about] is not an elitist point of view. It is a common-sense one. ...

You should not hire a plumber if your house is on fire.

The rednecks who revere the Confederate flag are an interesting bunch. They claim they love the United States more than anyone, but they also worship the flag of a country made up of states that hated the United States so much that they seceded and fought a war against the US. Those good ol' boys might as well fly the flag of Japan from their pickup trucks. It makes the same amount of sense.

That's a big clue that the true reason they fly the Confederate flag is because it's a potent symbol of white supremacy. It sends the message that its advocates hate all non-white people and are fond of Jim Crow, if not outright slavery.