Trump just claimed that America's relationship with Italy goes back "thousands of years."

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

John Scare-avosis🇺🇸 ✔ @aravosis

Trump just claimed that America’s relationship with Italy goes back “thousands of years.”

The fact checkers are going to have a field day with this one.

Embedded video

12:59 PM - Oct 16, 2019

[Jarqui]

1. So did Italy deliver dirt on Joe Biden after AG Barr's visit to get this meeting? nt

[Johnny2X2X]

2. LOL

It is more than misspeaking, and it is more than just forgetting the facts. This is being totally oblivious to the facts, I would bet that Trump doesn't know basic history, and he doesn't even care to know.

He's just going to keep on ramming the ramparts, just like they took over the airports in the revolutionary war whle high on covfefe.

[MineralMan]

3. What an idiot! American history only goes back a few hundred years.

Before that, nobody in Europe even knew it existed. The United States of America only goes back to the end of the 18th Century, for Jebus' sake.

[demigoddess]

8. no, no, no, we had a great relationship with Nero. Don't you remember?!

[CatWoman]

11. lol

[jberryhill]

19. The OP and tweet both misquote what he's reading

"The United States and Italy are bound together by a shared cultural and political heritage dating back thousands of years."

He's reading that, not ad-libbing it. Did you actually listen to the video?

Was the Roman Empire part of your Western Civ education? Why or why not?

Certainly, the Roman Empire was the primary vehicle through which such cultural influences as Christianity were spread to Europe and, by extension, into the New World, for good or ill.

Bizarre how everyone is laughing at a misquote of what is actually a correct statement that Italy and America do share cultural and political influences which can be traced to Rome, among many other influences.

[Jarqui]

4. Trump's reasoning: "Lies that are 1000s of years old don't count as lies"

[aeromanKC]

5. They'll use biblical time warp gymnastics

Your know like where days and years are not really days and years.

[The Wielding Truth]

6. And he's our President!

[nykym]

7. Was that before or after

Neanderthals rode dinosaurs?

[MurrayDelph]

9. I'm not sure,

but I don't think Italy was all that helpful at Normandy, either.

[tavernier]

14. That was my first thought.

[lunatica]

10. Yeah, the reason Rome didn't conquer the United States was

because we’ve always been great allies.

Everybody knows that.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

12. So? We all remember when the Romans built Caesar's Palace in Vegas. nt

[jberryhill]

21. Yeah, no common cultural heritage at all....

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

22. Oh no shit. As an architect, I

fucking get that. But as an English speaker (even as a second language), I can read what he said. And that wasn't it. right back at ya.

[jberryhill]

23. No, you can't read what he said

If you read the OP, and actually roll the clip, then you will realize you have been lied to, and you can't read what he said. Because the text of the OP is NOT what he said.

"The United States and Italy are bound together by a shared cultural and political heritage dating back thousands of years"

That's what he said.

Trump says stupid shit all of the time. However, it would be nice if DUers did not uncritically take anything taken on Twitter as true.

Listen to what he actually said. Nothing about a "relationship" whatsoever.

Tell me if you hear something different.

[jberryhill]

30. First thing I did was watch the video

Hence it struck me as odd that the tweet misquoted him, and nobody else bothered to listen.

We are heading into an election. A lot of stuff is going to be posted on Twitter. It is not all going to be true.

[greyl]

34. Exactly, thank you! Tweet and OP are misleading. nt

[miyazaki]

13. My ancient uncle sold snowcones during the gladiator events.

Must be true since one of those genetic testing services told me so.

[11 Bravo]

15. I heard that. Dumber than a bag of fingernail clippings.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. For the sake of accuracy, there's nothing wrong with what he read out

"The United States and Italy are bound together by a shared cultural and political heritage dating back thousands of years"

Yeah, they are. "Republic" is a Latin term ( "thing of the people" ), and the basis of the Roman Republic (before the emperors) was division of power, which is obviously very important in the US Constitution. Culturally, Rome had an immense influence on any European nation in the empire, including Britain and other countries from which there has been significant immigration to the USA. And so it shares a cultural and political heritage with Italy. Move on - he's a criminal, and that's what's wrong with him, not his speechwriter's understanding of history.

[jberryhill]

20. Funny how no one in this thread, other than you, actually listened to the quote

Trump says a lot of stupid stuff.

This line, in isolation, was not one of them.

Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, the aqueducts, the roads, education, and public order, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[RainCaster]

17. This is why he goes bankrupt so often- his understanding of math is AFU

[jberryhill]

18. But that's not what he said

Listen to it again.

Is the word "relationship" in there?

Trump says a lot of stupid stuff, but it is surprising how many people will take a misquote at face value.

[lame54]

26. The OP is not a quote

[jberryhill]

28. It purports to be one

There is actually nothing wrong with the sentence he spoke. Italy and the US share ancient political and cultural elements of heritage - largely because the US shares cultural influences with a great number of cultures with ancient roots.

We have Latin on the Great Seal, etc., because of the affectation for classical education that has long been a part of US culture.

But, yeah, the OP is not a quote. That's precisely what I'm pointing out.

"The United States and Italy are bound together by a shared cultural and political heritage dating back thousands of years" - in what way is that not a fairly mundane statement?

[lame54]

31. Thanks - I see it now

[jberryhill]

32. The more interesting cultural resonance, however

Are what the Italians did with the New World plant, the tomato.

The tomato, taken back to Europe, developed into sauces for pasta and pizza by the Italians, returned to this continent and took it by storm.

[lame54]

33. Mmmmm sauce

[jberryhill]

36. Or "gravy" as they call it in Philadelphia

Really weird usage, but they look at you funny in South Philadelphia if you call tomato sauce "sauce" instead of "gravy".

[lame54]

38. What's a Philly Thanksgiving like

[jberryhill]

39. You pick your side....

https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/11/it-is-called-sauce-or-gravy-a-slate-investigation-into-the-linguistics-of-the-italian-american-dinner.html

Sauce or Gravy? The Secret, Fervent Debate at the Heart of the Italian American Spaghetti Dinner.

Go to Facebook, search “Gravy or Sauce,” and end up with a list of pages with titles like:

It’s Gravy Not Sauce

Real Italians Say It’s Gravy

In Eastie We Call It Gravy Not Sauce

The Red Stuff on My Pasta Is Called Sauce

And, finally:

Let’s Not Fight Over Gravy or Sauce

Good luck with that.

[lame54]

25. It was written down

[no_hypocrisy]

27. The U.S. wasn't a nation until 1776 and Italy wasn't a nation until March 17, 1861.

[Gothmog]

29. trump has been showing signs of senility for a long time

[greyl]

35. Not exactly. OP headline is false.

Plenty of authentic criticisms of Trump to choose from, fake ones suck the air out of the real ones.

[jberryhill]

37. I think that's the point that gets lost sometimes

Truth is precious.

[struggle4progress]

40. "Our friendship with the Roma has brought so many Venusian treasures to our shore!"