The Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle in the Civil War, has been called the turning point of the War Between the States.
On Saturday, former President Donald Trump called the battle “so beautiful in so many different ways” at a rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, Mediaite reported.
Schnecksville, about two hours from Gettysburg, was the site where Flight 93 went down on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was,” Trump said. “The Battle of Gettysburg. What an unbelievable — it was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways. It represented such a big portion of the success of this country. Gettysburg, wow.”
Trump, who was in Pennsylvania for his first major campaign event, spoke off the cuff about the Battle of Gettysburg, which occurred in July of 1863. Pennsylvania is considered a swing state in the 2024 presidential election.
According to Newsweek, Trump also spoke about Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
“Gettysburg, wow — I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch,” he said. “And the statement of Robert E. Lee, who’s no longer in favor — did you ever notice it? He’s no longer in favor. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.’ They were fighting uphill, he said, ‘Wow, that was a big mistake,’ he lost his big general. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys,’ but it was too late.”
President Joe Biden, who hails from Scranton, is expected to go to the battleground state three times next week.
The state holds 19 electoral votes, the most of any swing state in the country, per Newsweek.
Trump was victorious in Pennsylvania in 2016 by garnering less than 45,000 votes over Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton. He then lost to Biden in 2020 by about 80,000 votes.
Several took to X, formerly Twitter, to decipher what Trump said:
