Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx via AP
- In an interview with ABC, President Donald Trump said he’s been treated worse than any other American president, including President Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in 1865.
- In the interview, Trump repeated his usual complaints that the media treats him unfairly and writes fake stories about him and his administration.
- "If you can believe it, Abraham Lincoln was treated supposedly very badly, but nobody’s been treated badly like me," Trump said.
- President John F. Kennedy was also assassinated in Dallas, Texas in the fall of 1963, and President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in Washington, DC in 1981.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, President Donald Trump said he’s been treated worse than any other American president, including President Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in 1865.
In the interview, Trump repeated his usual complaints that the media treats him unfairly and writes fake stories about him and his administration — and said he needs to rely on Twitter to get his message across so he is not misconstrued. "If I don’t use social media, I do not get the word out," Trump said, adding that supporters at his rallies beg him not to stop tweeting.
When Stephanopoulos pushed back on Trump and argued that every president complains about their media coverage, Trump went further and argued that his tumultuous relationship with the press makes him the worst-treated president of all time, even worse than Lincoln.
Read more: Trump kicked his chief of staff out of the Oval Office for coughing during a TV interview
"I disagree. Look, it’s been acknowledged. Although they do say Abraham Lincoln was treated really badly. I must say that’s the one. If you can believe it, Abraham Lincoln was treated supposedly very badly, but nobody’s been treated badly like me. And this way I can fight the dishonest media, the corrupt media, the fake news," Trump said, according to ABC’s transcript of the interview.
Lincoln, America’s 16th president who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and ushered in the end of slavery in America, was infamously assassinated in a theater in 1865 — and he wasn’t the only president to experience an assassination or assassination attempt.
President John F. Kennedy was also assassinated in Dallas, Texas in the fall of 1963, President Gerald Ford survived an assassination attempt at the hands of Lynne "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the Manson family, in 1975, and President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in Washington, DC in 1981.
Over the weekend before the interview aired, Trump tweeted extensively about the media, calling The New York Times and the Washington Post "dishonest and deceitful newspapers" and predicting that they would both go out of business.
He also accused The Times of "treason" for publishing a story on the US’ ramped-up cyberattacks of Russia’s power grid, without substantially refuting or disproving the story’s contents.
Read the full interview transcript at ABC>>
Read more:
Trump says he will announce ‘phenomenal’ new healthcare plan within the next two months
See Also:
- Eric Swalwell tweets about Trump more than any other 2020 candidate, but it may not be an effective strategy
- Kim Kardashian West went to the White House to announce more criminal justice reforms alongside Trump
- Most Americans say they understand what impeachment is, but fewer than a third can actually define it correctly
Source: Business Insider – gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta)