Donald Trump
Trump's bizarre comments about President Andrew Jackson and the Civil War triggered a slew of comments, memes and jokes from baffled social media users Reuters/Carlos Barria
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President Donald Trump's puzzling comments on the Civil War and Andrew Jackson have triggered widespread criticism as well as a cacophony of memes mocking the president's view of American history. In an interview with Salena Zito that was published in The Washington Examiner on Sunday (30 April), Trump questioned why the civil war had taken place and claimed it could have been avoided if Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, had been around to stop it.

"People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?" he told Zito in the interview that was later broadcast on SiriusXM's POTUS channel on Monday. The Washington Examiner. "People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

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"I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. And he was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War", he continued. "There's no reason for this."

Jackson was a slave owner who signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to forcefully remove Native Americans from their land. He died in 1845, more than a decade before the Civil War started in 1861.

Trump later attempted to clarify his remarks in a tweet saying Jackson saw the Civil War coming and "would have never let it happen" had he not died 16 years earlier.

Trump has long professed his admiration for Jackson and has often drawn comparisons between his own campaign and that of the former president's in the past as well.

His latest remarks on the Civil War and Andrew Jackson were immediately slammed by historians, Democrats and civil rights activists arguing that the president has a faulty view of American history.

Meanwhile, social media users responded, expectedly, with a slew of sarcastic memes mocking the president's remarks and suggesting other alternate histories, ranging from biblical events to the Manhattan Project, using the viral hashtag #TrumpTeachesHistory.

"Abraham Lincoln could have avoided getting shot if he just stayed home and watch the play on Netflix," one Twitter user wrote. Another user wrote: "Noah built a fabulous ark. He and his wife, Joan of Ark, sailed around the world in 80 days."

"Lenin. Great guy. Fantastic musician," one user tweeted. "Too bad he married Yoko. The Beatles were never the same afterwords."

Another wrote: "No one asks why Berlin would tear down a perfectly good wall. Where is Berlin?"