President Trump's Twitter feed seems to exist in blissful unawareness of reality around him.
How else could tweets like this one be possible?
THOSE THAT DENY THEIR HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2020
Many assume Trump wrote the tweet in defense of the many Confederate monuments that are being torn down in the midst of America's racial reckoning.
Surprising no one, President Trump seems to be on the side of the Confederacy, and seems to think tearing down monuments honoring their generals is akin to forgetting the Civil War.
So that's why you're repeating the Civil War. https://t.co/guXoqEhPpF
— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) June 11, 2020
But, as is almost always the case with President Trump, many felt his tweet said more about himself than the world around him.
your slogan is "make america great again," denying history is your whole deal https://t.co/oJ6Z712PPR
— maura quint (@behindyourback) June 11, 2020
True. https://t.co/vmsqLMzhPM pic.twitter.com/qzeqxK0bZ5
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) June 11, 2020
Says the guy who just referred to the Secret Service as “the SS." https://t.co/3ChUPKhI4A
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️🌈 (@aravosis) June 11, 2020
Trump himself seems to be denying who the "bad guys" were during the Civil War.
did not expect him to be getting on the late 30s bandwagon https://t.co/BK2swJM3m9
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 11, 2020
In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, I do not think it means what you think it means https://t.co/i3YtEjSZfL
— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) June 11, 2020
I'm certain he's talking about the mistake Sony made pricing the PS3 at $599 https://t.co/HGxESkez3Y
— Michael Pachter (@michaelpachter) June 11, 2020
Reasonable people can remember and learn about dark figures from history without honoring them with statues and military bases.
Italy and Germany remember WWII, Iraq remembers Saddam Hussein, Russia remembers communism and people in the United States applauded when monuments to the leaders of those periods were torn down.
preaching ryan phillippe GIFGiphy
racists be like “if you remove the statues you're erasing history and when you erase history it repeats itself" as if we don't have to actively seek out Black American history as adults because it's not taught in schools
— 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 (@talliesinyoung) June 9, 2020
Meanwhile, others felt they had to point out that President Trump hadn't remembered history well enough to get the quote right.
That's not the quote you idiot.
The quote is:
“ Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
- George Santayana
— Ken Olin (@kenolin1) June 12, 2020
Irony is dead.
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 11, 2020
If anyone has been denying history lately, it's probably President Trump.
like when the first five casinos went bankrupt and you opened the sixth
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) June 11, 2020
Now may be a good time for you to read-up on the following pieces of our history: Slavery & Civil War, Schutzstaffel (SS), Juneteenth, Tulsa Race Massacre
— David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) June 11, 2020
Many online used this brief history lesson to push them towards the polls this November.
We know. That's why Biden will win in November.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) June 11, 2020
Others felt Trump made the case to stop glorifying violent seditious traitors who fought for their right to own Black people as property.
Precisely why the Confederacy names should be removed! Glad you've come around, sir
— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) June 11, 2020
One can only wonder if President Trump's behavior might change if an accurate history course was offered in the White House.