As if it weren't enough for the president of the United States to regularly dismiss the black community as second-class citizens, he threatened to deploy the Air Force to stop protests against police brutality and the murder of George Floyd.
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And last Friday, Donald Trump was on Fox News, a news outlet that has been known to support his views. He said he believed that he had"done more for the black community than any other president," boasting about all the work he and his team have done.
A bold comparison?
The president took the opportunity to quote one of his predecessors: Abraham Lincoln, who was notably one of the pillars and instigators of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Donald Trump said that Abraham Lincoln "did good, although it's always questionable" before the journalist interviewing him cut him off.
Harris Faulkner, a black woman, reminded him that the 16th president of the United States had given African-Americans their freedom: "Well, we are free, Mr. President. So, he did pretty well."
The current American president then tried to justify himself by recalling the measures his administration had taken in favour of the African-American community: for example, they extended funding for historically black colleges and universities.
'Treated more unfairly by the press'
It wasn't the first time Donald Trump compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, who was probably the most widely respected president in the history of the United States. But perhaps everyone but Trump just got all the history wrong, as he has already proven.
Still on Fox News, on May 3rd of this year, he was answering questions in front of a statue of President Lincoln, and receiving criticism for his management of the coronavirus crisis in the United States. He said that he was "treated more unfairly the press" and the media in general than Lincoln had been in his day.
I am greeted with a hostile press, the likes of which no president has ever seen. The closest would be that gentleman right up there [pointing to the David Chester French statue]. They always said, Lincoln, nobody got treated worse than Lincoln. I believe I am treated worse.
Last Saturday, Donald Trump announced that he would delay a rally he had planned in Tulsa out of respect for 'Juneteenth,' a celebration of the end of slavery.
