title:  ‘Verbal Diarrhea’: Trump Gives Most Astonishingly Dumb Answer When Asked Who Abraham Lincoln Was
text: It s no secret that Donald Trump talks to his supporters at an elementary school level, but even third graders would have to look at this answer to the question of  Why Abraham Lincoln was a successful president  and laugh. Trump, like a deer in headlights, delivers what may be the dumbest response ever delivered by a person hoping to bullshit his way through a question he can t answer.It s a beauty to behold.Trump sat down with legendary journalist Bob Woodward to cover a variety of topics. Trump, having clearly not prepared whatsoever, flailed spectacularly throughout. Just one example: I m a very inclusive person. I actually am somebody that gets along with people. And yet from a political standpoint, although I certainly have a lot of fans  you just said hello to Senator Sessions. It s enough to give Sarah Palin a run for her money for the Word Salad of the Year title.However, Trump s train finally derailed completely when Woodward asked him what he though the Republican Party stood for given its legacy as the Party of Abraham Lincoln. Trump responded as if he had never heard the name before.Well, I think Lincoln succeeded for numerous reasons. He was a man who was of great intelligence, which most presidents would be. But he was a man of great intelligence, but he was also a man that did something that was a very vital thing to do at that time. Ten years before or 20 years before, what he was doing would never have even been thought possible. So he did something that was a very important thing to do, and especially at that time.What did Abraham Lincoln do? Don t ask Trump, he just knows it was something  very vital  and  very important. The reaction on Twitter was unforgiving:.@katherinemiller That s verbal diarrhea not an answer to anything.  David Bohm (@DavidJBohm) April 5, 2016 This is like a 7th grade history paper.  @katherinemiller: Does Trump know what Abraham Lincoln did as president? pic.twitter.com/tCuiU1QIxZ  Yes, Nick $earcy! (@yesnicksearcy) April 5, 2016But there is another theory here. Perhaps Trump isn t dumber than a 5th grader. Perhaps he s just more racist than you dared suspect.The fact of the matter is that Trump s campaign has thrived on appealing to the portion of the American public most likely to ask  Why isn t there a White History month?  To many of his supporters, Lincoln s Emancipation Proclamation wasn t necessarily a good thing. A full 20 percent of his supporters say they thought it was a mistake. Some have even argued that African Americans were better off as slaves than  Democrats.  Trump supporter Ben Carson once mused that Obamacare was as bad as slavery.To talk about Lincoln s success is to talk about African Americans and to talk about African Americans is to not talk about the  silent majority  who claim it is white people who are oppressed. So, a good way to sidestep alienating your base is to talk in generalities. Lincoln succeeded  for numerous reasons.  He did  something  that was  vital.  It was  something  that was  very important to do.  Trump may think he has a great relationship with  the blacks  but it s the whites who come out by the thousands to vote for him   and he knows it.I m not sure which is worse: A Republican front-runner who can t articulate who Abraham Lincoln was or one who finds the Emancipation Proclamation so controversial that he can t even mention it as one of the former president s successes.Featured image via White House and Scott Olson/Getty Images