Trump gave a speech at Gettysburg in 2016. It sounds a lot like his present-day Twitter feed.
Zero score and four years ago, President Trump was complaining about the exact same things he's griping about now.
Trump announced Monday he's considering the battlefield at Gettysburg and the White House as possible locations for his presidential nomination acceptance speech, and while the president regularly makes speeches at the latter, he's not a complete stranger to the former. Just weeks before he was elected in 2016, Trump gave his first Gettysburg address.
In the 2016 speech, Trump complained of a "totally rigged and broken" political system, insulted his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and warned of supposed voter fraud that could derail the election. Trump has also aired these exact same grievances on his Twitter account in the last 14 days.
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.
In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Trump has taken a forceful stance against mail-in voting (except in Florida), baselessly arguing it will lead to mass voter fraud and threatening legal action to prevent the practice. The president has touted the incorrect claim that absentee ballots and mail-in ballots are different, and has completely ignored that he himself is a mail-in voter.
As recently as July, Trump took shots at Clinton on Twitter, drawing attention to her relationship with Russia and attacking her for alleged voter suppression.
So while Trump has had over 1,300 days and four years of presidential experience since his first go at Gettysburg, a 2020 Gettysburg address may have already written itself.
Although if recent poll numbers are any indication, it may be time to deviate from the source material.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
-
Democrats split as Senate votes to end shutdownSpeed Read The proposed deal does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Democrats’ main demand
-
Political cartoons for November 11Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include GOP promises, a pardoned turkey, and stumping for Cop30
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
-
Democrats split as Senate votes to end shutdownSpeed Read The proposed deal does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Democrats’ main demand
-
USDA orders states to ‘undo’ full SNAP paymentsSpeed Read The Trump administration is telling states not to pay full November food stamp benefits
-
Senate takes first step to end record shutdownSpeed Read Eight senators in the Democratic caucus voted with Republicans to advance legislation to reopen the government
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
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
