CNN’s Hill: Trump Wants to Speak at Gettysburg as Part of Effort ‘to Shore Up the Confederacy’

CNN’s Erica Hill on Tuesday weighed in on President Donald Trump potentially delivering his Republican National Convention nomination acceptance speech at the historic Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, PA.

Hill said Trump wants to speak at Gettysburg because he wants “to do his best to shore up the Confederacy” and preserve the Confederate flag and memorials.

“I have to say, it’s not the same thing, but when we heard this, one of the first things I thought of was an interview that the president had at Normandy, and when we saw him there with all of those crosses in the background,” Hill stated. “And that really struck a chord with a number of people as well because it became so politicized. To think that now we’re looking at Gettysburg, where the president has in recent weeks really taken it upon himself to do his best to shore up the Confederacy, right, that we keep Confederate flags and monuments to Confederate generals going, that, too, leaves you scratching your head.”

Rice University history professor Douglas Brinkley agreed, saying, “It’s all a bit nutty. I mean, here is Donald Trump defending Confederate monuments staying up, refusing to strip the name of rogue traitors like Bragg from federal forts, now talking about speaking at Gettysburg. Remember, not giving a speech there about public policy, but self-aggrandizing himself, making that the center of the Republican National Committee, the middle of the battlefield and cemetery at Gettysburg. I can’t think of a worse idea.”

“Gettysburg, of course, you can’t ignore the connection to Abraham Lincoln. and President Trump likes to put himself in the same camp as President Lincoln,” Hill added. “He’s done it often.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent