Trump Asked Why The Civil War Happened And Twitter Gave Him A History Lesson

Every day, President Donald Trump says something that he probably immediately regrets. During an interview with journalist Salena Zito of Sirius XM over the weekend, Trump asked why the Civil War "couldn't be worked out."

The President said:

"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?" 

The comments were made after a lengthy discussion about former President Andrew Jackson, who Trump compared himself to because of Jackson's populist views and campaigning. 

"I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War," Trump said regarding the slave-owning president. "He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said there's no reason for this." 

Of course, anyone who knows their presidents will know that Jackson died in 1845, 16 years before the Civil War started. 

And anyone who knows their American history will probably conclude that if there had been no Civil War, the horrors of slavery would have continued in the south for decades longer. The Civil War broke out over the issue of whether western territories being added to the union should be allowed to practice slavery. In early 1861, fearing that free states would outnumber slave states, seven pro-slavery states in the south seceded from the union, starting the Civil War. Another four states would eventually side with the Confederacy. 

As you can imagine, social media didn't treat the president kindly...

Let's see how Sean Spicer handles this one. Isn't going to be easy for him.