U.S. President Donald Trump, beneath a portrait of populist President Andrew Jackson, speaks before the swearing-in of Rex Tillerson as 69th secretary of state in the Oval Office of the White House on February 1, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
In audio posted on Monday, President Trump said Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was "really angry" about what was happening with the Civil War.
There's one major problem with that statement: Jackson died in 1845, nearly 16 years before the Civil War began.
Let's dissect the full quote, sentence by sentence.
"I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War."
This is in the vein of imagining various alternate histories of the United States.
"He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart."
Jackson was known for his temper and his loyalty to his friends, so this is OK.
"He was really angry that-- he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War."
Jackson did not, because Jackson was dead.
"He said, 'There's no reason for this.'"
See above.
Trump's quote came during an interview with the Washington Examiner's Salena Zito. The two discussed Trump's visit to Tennessee in March, during which he toured the Hermitage, laid a wreath at Jackson's tomb and called him the "people's president."
SiriusXM revealed the quote in audio of the interview, which will air on SiriusXM P.O.T.U.S.'s Main Street Meets the Beltway show later on Monday. The Examiner story only mentions Jackson to note that the seventh president's portrait now hangs in the Oval Office.
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