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Donald Trump

Note to President Trump: Andrew Jackson wasn't alive for the Civil War

Jessica Estepa
USA TODAY

In audio posted on Monday, President Trump said Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was "really angry" about what was happening with the Civil War.

There's one major problem with that statement: Jackson died in 1845, nearly 16 years before the Civil War began.

Let's dissect the full quote, sentence by sentence.

"I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War."

This is in the vein of imagining various alternate histories of the United States.

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"He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart."

Jackson was known for his temper and his loyalty to his friends, so this is OK.

"He was really angry that-- he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War."

Jackson did not, because Jackson was dead.

"He said, 'There's no reason for this.'"

See above.

Trump's quote came during an interview with the Washington Examiner's Salena Zito. The two discussed Trump's visit to Tennessee in March, during which he toured the Hermitage, laid a wreath at Jackson's tomb and called him the "people's president."

SiriusXM revealed the quote in audio of the interview, which will air on SiriusXM P.O.T.U.S.'s Main Street Meets the Beltway show later on Monday. The Examiner story only mentions Jackson to note that the seventh president's portrait now hangs in the Oval Office.

Late Monday night, Trump took to Twitter to clarify his comments, saying Jackson "saw" the Civil War "coming and was angry" despite not being alive.

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