Twitter Users Set The White House Straight On Baffling Donald Trump Quote
Twitter users continue to call out the White House for tweeting lines from Donald Trump’s Independence Day celebration speech in which the president falsely claimed credit for the U.S. for a whole host of things:
"Americans harnessed electricity, split the atom, and gave the world the telephone and the internet. We settled the Wild West, won two World Wars, landed American Astronauts on the Moon—and one day soon, we will plant our flag on Mars!"
— President @realDonaldTrump— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 6, 2020
“Americans harnessed electricity, split the atom, and gave the world the telephone and the internet,” Trump said during his address at Mount Rushmore on July 3, in which he also raged against “far-left fascism” and “cancel culture.”
“We settled the Wild West, won two World Wars, landed American astronauts on the Moon — and one day very soon, we will plant our flag on Mars,” he added.
The White House shared the quote, above, on Sunday.
Tweeters have been fact-checking most of the claims ever since.
“Are you trolling him too now?” one tweeter replied to the White House’s post.
Said another: “Are there no history books in the white house library?”
Rutherford (Kiwi) split the atom, Bell (Scot) invented the telephone, Berners-Lee (Brit) invented the WWW, ‘settling’ the Wild West=murdering the Native Americans, the 2 WWs not all yr own work. Otherwise you’re good to go. https://t.co/p6i4IwUdma
— Stephen Mangan (@StephenMangan) July 7, 2020
Dear @WhiteHouse, are you trolling him too now? https://t.co/wgsareabT0
— Ken Barlow (@I_am_KenBarlow) July 10, 2020
Fake news anyone? The comments.... https://t.co/0dQYrvUvBu
— Ben Shirley (@BenGShirley) July 10, 2020
Wow. So many mistakes in one tweet.
Are there no history books in the white house library ?— Rob McCluskey ✊🌹😼 (@rob_mccluskey) July 6, 2020
Who was his history teacher?
I have questions.— Fake History Hunter (@fakehistoryhunt) July 7, 2020
Actually the atom was first split in a British university by a New Zealander. The electric motor and dynamo were invented in Britain. A Scot invented the telephone (in the US), and the WWW was invented at CERN by a Briton. But apart from those points, spot on.
— James West (@ejwwest) July 7, 2020
Tesla was a Serb.
Bell was a Scot.
Tim Berners-Lee was British.
You can own the Native American genocide.
3 years late for WW1.
Over 2 years late for WW2.
The US Space Program was run by a bunch of "useful Nazis" from 1945.
I wouldn't trust Trump to plant a flag the right way up!— Iona Brand (@MikeIona) July 7, 2020
Electricity. Hard to pinpoint one nation.
Splitting atom. Ernest Rutherford. New Zealander working in UK.
Phone. Alexander Graham Bell. Scottish.
Internet. USA. Although WWW was a Brit scientist.
WW2. Allies including USA. Russia did A LOT.
Wild West. You can have that one Don. https://t.co/TT0QbTzWKT— Rob Manuel - Follow @fesshole now! (@robmanuel) July 7, 2020
Given Rutherford (atom) was from New Zealand, Sir Tim Berners-Lee (Internet), England, and Alexander Graham Bell (telephone), Scotland, I feel they all have something in common but can’t quite think of it. https://t.co/rCgFYpt59v
— Mark Stephens (@MarksLarks) July 8, 2020
Woah, woah, some beg to differ!
Find out more about how the atom was split: https://t.co/9NKeyIMsFh https://t.co/vhdcVwzcIs— The University of Manchester (@OfficialUoM) July 7, 2020
LOOOOOOOOOL
Atom - Rutherford, a New Zealander.
Internet - Tim Berners-Lee, an Englishman.
Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell, a Scotsman.
The White House is always spot on https://t.co/Cs52C4Qm3Y— Daniele Palumbo (@Danict89) July 7, 2020
Atom was split by Earnest Rutherford from NZ. Phone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell from Scotland. World War l and II - group effort but US were there for some of it. Internet - not as good as we thought it was going to be. https://t.co/GOW3YvVlBV
— Jemaine Clement (@AJemaineClement) July 7, 2020
Tim Berners-Lee sat at home spitting his tea as he reads this. https://t.co/Su4NOrJ8H4
— Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) July 7, 2020
Actually almost totally incorrect.....
— GuntherBett #FPPE 🐟🐟 (@BettGunther) July 7, 2020
Telephone: 🇮🇹 + 🏴
The web: 🏴(On 🇺🇸 ARPANET)
WWI: 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇮🇹 🇷🇺 🇯🇵 (🇺🇸 joined late)
WWII: 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 (🇺🇸 joined late)
Moon program 🇺🇸 on 🇩🇪 rocket tech
Atom split: 🇳🇿 in 🇬🇧 uni
Electricity (we use AC not DC): 🇷🇸 (harnessing it⚡️+🪑:🇺🇸)
Mass murdering indigenous ‘Wild West’: 🇺🇸 https://t.co/ZBXRlZVDIs— Stephen Grant (@stephencgrant) July 10, 2020
Lolz.
Atom - Rutherford, a New Zealander.
Internet - Tim Berners-Lee, an Englishman.
Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell, a Scotsman. https://t.co/mhgs25R7kR— The Ayrshire Separatist (@mathie_dan) July 7, 2020
1/3 Well I think eels got to electricity first, and arguably Michael Faraday 'harnessed' it, as opposed to simply studying and experimenting, by inventing the electric motor. Rutherford, a Kiwi, split the atom here in Manchester. The phone was invented in the US, but by a proud https://t.co/pGs46pCvvH
— Thom Hetherington (@ThomHetheringto) July 10, 2020
2/3 Scot, Bell, who lived in Canada. You get the Internet, but it wasn't a lot of fun until Berners-Lee, a Brit, invented the www. 'Settling the Wild West'? You win that one, but it was genocide so maybe don't boast. And yes, you were on the victorious team in two world wars, but
— Thom Hetherington (@ThomHetheringto) July 10, 2020
3/3 other countries arguably did more (ie Russia in the WWII), and you've also lost many smaller wars on your own. Well done on the men on the moon, though ironically Trump's followers probably believe that is a hoax. Enjoy your eventual second or third place in the race to Mars.
— Thom Hetherington (@ThomHetheringto) July 10, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.