• cron@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    257
    arrow-down
    7
    ·
    edit-2
    11 days ago

    False, according to snopes:

    What Trump actually said, in his opening remarks during the press conference, was as follows: “The United States and Italy are bound together by a shared cultural and political heritage dating back thousands of years, to ancient Rome …”

    Edit: Even after reading this quote twice, I can’t really understand what Trump wanted to say.

    • Meldrik@lemmy.wtfOPM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      88
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      11 days ago

      Edit: Even after reading this quote twice, I can’t really understand what Trump wanted to say.

      Can anyone ever?

        • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          10 days ago

          The Olympics did it better

          (More difficult than I imagined to find articles about it, there are plenty though from random sources)

      • Squorlple@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        11 days ago

        It doesn’t matter if what he says makes sense or is true; if he says it confidently and double downs on it, people will be convinced (or be coerced to agree)

      • CritFail@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        8 days ago

        My take is that he sees himself as Julius Caesar reincarnate, who spelled the end of the Republic, and wants to be the first emperor of the USA. If you read about the last days of the Republic there are so many historically rhyming events that with the current state of America, a repeat of history seems almost inevitable. A spate of military wins means Rome becomes very rich very quickly, disband rival military power which leads to pirates and banditry, widespread extremes of wealth and poverty, politicians riling the public up into a frenzy with populist talking points, using corrupt judiciary system to punish their political opponents, plebs forcing themselves in on senate discussions, Krassus was a mega oligarch banker who bankrolled politicians and held debts as favours to call on, the Bona Dea scandal, Clodius being unceremoniously taken to court for sneaking into a women-only festival, who is betrayed by another political rival Sicero only to then be equitted (jury was bribed), and the subsequent crossing of the Rubicon by Caesar, leading to insurrection, more political assassinations, and the fall of the Republic.

        I would say he is as spiteful and vengeful as Clodius (and feels wronged in the same way he did by the court cases against him), is as ambitious as Caesar, has Musk as his Krassus-figure backing him, craves attention and celebration of himself like Pompey, and thinks he is as important and catalytic to political change as the Gracchus brothers were.

        Trump aspires to be as awful and as “great” as the conniving ruling class of ancient Rome, because he us just as morally bankrupt as many of them.

        However all of these observations seem at odds with the way he presents himself - seemingly senile, lexicon of a five-year-old, and lacks any of the charisma and knack for timing that the great orators of the Senate had. In comparison, Trump as an isolated figure is but a skidmark compared to the intellectual brilliance of the Roman elite.

    • AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      25
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      10 days ago

      America was founded on Roman ideals. I mean look at our capital building. Not only is it built in a Roman style there’s literally a mural of the founding fathers consulting with Roman gods.

      • Geobloke@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        10 days ago

        We’re all the descendants of when Hercules impregnated every female trojan as part of his 13th labour. You can read all about it in my book “The Da Vinci Code: Die Harder”

    • ShadowRam@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      11 days ago

      Weird,

      Trump already says a bunch of stupid shit on his own.

      Not sure why someone would make the OP and make shit up.

    • pyre@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      10 days ago

      he’s talking about how fascists are obsessed with Rome and think they share white heritage or whatever

    • hopesdead@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      11 days ago

      I think he meant culture and politics has been similar since the time of ancient Rome, maybe thinking the United States existed that long ago.

      It did not.

      • AEsheron@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        20
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        11 days ago

        To play the ultimate Devil’s Advocate, the Romans did leave a lasting cultural impact on Brittain. So in a way we have a cultural bloodline that is distantly connected to Rome.

        • samus12345@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          edit-2
          11 days ago

          Ridiculous, I suppose next you’ll say that the US government has a senate that meets in a columned building!

        • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          10 days ago

          The American system is a direct descendant of Enlightenment Classicism, which includes a respect for the Classical Republics. Athens, Rome, Thebes, etc.

          American federal government and arguably as a result liberalism is quite literally an imitation and attempt at modernization of the Roman Republic, which is, among other things, why we adopted the eagle as a national symbol and have a fasces in the House of Representatives.

    • dumbass@leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      10 days ago

      Wouldn’t it be funny if we found out the native Americans and Romans had a long standing friendship, much like them and the Vikings and that’s what he means.

      Obviously he’s just dribbling shit he thinks sounds smart, but it would be kinda funny.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 days ago

      He thinks he’s complimenting them by linking them to the Roman Empire. Also he’s probably completely forgotten that democracy was created by the Greeks.