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Lara Trump misquotes Abraham Lincoln in RNC speech, Internet says 'hire better researchers'

One historian said 'It is not accurate in that Lincoln never spoke or wrote it, but it is not totally fabricated either'

Lara Trump, president Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law and campaign advisor made an extremely personal speech involving her growing up years and her current family at the RNC 2020, day three. She said, “My parents raised me to believe that in America, I could achieve anything with hard work and determination. That the opportunities available to me were limited only by the size of my ambition, that I should dream big, and I did. Those very dreams are what led me to New York City.”

She said, “Never in a million years did I think that I would be on this stage tonight, and I certainly never thought that I’d end up with the last name, Trump.” Appreciating her husband Eric and the first family further she said, “Any preconceived notion I had of this family disappeared immediately. They were warm and caring. They were hard workers and they were down to earth. They reminded me of my own family. They made me feel like I was home. Walking the halls of the Trump organization, I saw the same family environment. I also saw the countless women executives who thrived there year after year.”

Lara further expressed gratitude to her father-in-law, “Though I had no political experience, he believed in me. He knew I was capable, even if I didn’t. So it didn’t surprise me when president Donald Trump appointed so many women to senior-level positions in his administration.”

Speaking about the election she said, “This is not just a choice between Republican and Democrat or left and right, this is an election that will decide if we keep America – ‘America’, or if we head down an uncharted frightening path towards socialism. Abraham Lincoln once famously said, America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. While those words were spoken over 150 years ago, never have they been more relevant.”

According to Lara, Trump is “the law and order president from our borders to our backyards” and he “will keep America safe, will keep America prosperous, will keep America -- America.”

She concluded her speech by thanking Trump once again, “To my father-in-law, thank you for believing in me. Thank you for bravely leading this country and thank you for continuing to fight every day for America. May God bless and protect the Gulf states in the path of the hurricane. May God bless our troops and may God continue to bless this incredible country.”

But her speech could not skip the hawk-eyed audience who pointed out that the Lincoln quote which she referred to is incorrect. According to a report in The Week, last year, a Facebook meme crediting Lincoln with that statement went viral, however, PolitiFact and Snopes – the fact-checking websites -- have dismissed it. As quoted in the PolitiFact website, Christian McWhirter, a Lincoln historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, said, "It is not accurate in that Lincoln never spoke or wrote it, but it is not totally fabricated either."

The website further explains that on January 27, 1838, Lincoln addressed the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, regarding “the perpetuation of our political institutions.” During that exchange, he said: “At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

As stated in the website, Michael Burlingame, a chair in Lincoln studies at the University of Illinois Springfield, pointed out that Lincoln “was denouncing mob violence which would lead to chaos, provoking the public to demand law and order, which would be provided by an ambitious leader who would rule tyrannically.”

But Twitter had a field day pointing out the mistake. One commented, "Hey! Is anyone going to tell Lara Trump that Lincoln never said that? No? Okay. Seems on brand."

A user said, "Upon factchecking, nothing she said was true, not even the Abraham Lincoln quote. Lara Trump is just another liar who’s lies can be easily debunked with a simple google search."

One advised, "You got that Abraham Lincoln quote totally wrong. That came from a sm post, and it is FALSE! Better hire better researchers for your speeches."

One said, "Lara Trump is not forgetting the millions of Americans who are still unemployed —> she doesn't know they exist. She's one of the entitled Trump family who doesn't see beyond their her own life situation."

One user mocked, "Someone check Lincoln’s grave in Springfield because it has to be spinning right now after Lara Trump speaks his words."