President Donald Trump has had his fair share of gaffes since being elected exactly one year ago. Some have caused serious political anxiety and others have caused the nation to collectively shrug and then move on. Below are 17 of those moments, full of awkward handshakes and confusing Trumpisms. Yes, it's hard to pick just 17, but here goes:
People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?
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On May 1, President Trump decided that it was time to school the American people on their history. "I mean had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later you wouldn't have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart," Trump explained during an interview on SiriusXM’s "Main Street Meets the Beltway."
"He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, he said, 'There's no reason for this.'"
Andrew Jackson died in 1845, 16 years before the Civil War began in 1861.
Trump continued by questioning a topic covered in every high school history class, "People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"
Why? Slavery, for one. States' rights, for another. But why let revisionism be burdened by facts.
Frederick Douglass 'is being recognized more and more'
Frederick Douglass is "an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice," President Trump said at a breakfast to recognize African-American History Month in February. The statement insinuated that Douglas, a famed abolitionist who was born a slave, was still alive.
Douglas died in 1895.
Later, then-press secretary Sean Spicer attempted to clarify President Trump’s statements. "I think he wants to highlight the contributions that he has made and I think through a lot of the actions and statements that he's going to make, I think the contributions of Frederick Douglass will become more and more," Spicer said.
The damage was done, and Spicer only made it worse. Trump had shown a limited understanding of African-American history at an event dedicated African-American history.
'What a Crowd, What a Turnout'
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited Austin and Corpus Christi, Texas, to meet with FEMA officials and first-responders. Trump insisted he wasn’t there to talk about himself, and instead praised FEMA administrator Brock Long who, he said in typical Trump fashion, had "become very famous on television over the last couple of days."
Later in the day, Trump was unable to resist some ego-patting. At a Corpus Christi f
irehouse, he climbed on top of a truck and addressed the Texans who had come to see him discuss rebuilding their state. “What a crowd, what a turnout," he told the hurricane survivors.
Melania’s not happy
The first Melania snafu came very early in President Trump’s tenure, on his first day. During a pre-inauguration meeting at the White House, the soon-to-be-president failed to hold a car door open for Melania and then walked ahead of her towards President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama waiting to greet them.
A full news cycle of body-language analysis followed.
In another case of bad optics, Melania seemingly batted the president’s hand away from hers during a May trip to Israel.
Security breaches
In February, President Trump was hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Mar-a-Lago Golf Club when news broke that North Korea had launched a test missile. Trump’s team responded by bringing sensitive documents to the president’s table in a public dining room and shining their phone lights on them. Club members with no security clearance were privy to the events and shared loosely on social media.
holy moly!
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holy moly!