President Trump asked black Americans to "honor" him and his Republican Party with their votes at an Ohio rally Friday night, an event at which he honored Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
"So Robert E. Lee was a great general, and Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia. He couldn't beat Robert E. Lee," Trump said. The president went on to recount Lincoln's selection of Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, an Ohio native, to face Lee in battle.
The moral of the story, in Trump's telling, is to pick leaders with personal flaws — in Grant's case, alleged alcoholism (a nod to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's disputed drinking history?) — so long as they know how to "win."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Moments before those remarks, Trump had requested support from black voters and predicted the GOP will get it in the midterm elections. "Get away from the Democrats," Trump said to African Americans, who overwhelmingly supported his rival, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, in 2016. "Think of it: We have the best numbers in history," he continued, referencing low unemployment rates for black workers, which were already trending down before he took office. "I think we're going to get the African American vote, and it's true."
Read up on Trump's history of affection for Lee — and why it won't exactly rally black Americans to his side — here at The Week.
-
The 8 best dark comedies of the 21st centuryFrom Santa Claus to suicide terrorism, these movies skewered big, taboo subjects
-
France’s ‘red hands’ trial highlights alleged Russian disruption operationsUNDER THE RADAR Attacks on religious and cultural institutions around France have authorities worried about Moscow’s effort to sow chaos in one of Europe’s political centers
-
Crossword: October 30, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
