President Donald Trump was mocked online for seemingly not knowing when the Civil War ended, causing users to claim their own president “couldn’t pass the citizenship test.”
The berating began after the White House held a press conference Friday following the Supreme Court’s siding with the Trump administration, saying that there could be exceptions to birthright citizenship.
“They used birthright citizenship, some of the worst people, some of the cartels, to get people into our country, just so you know,” Trump told reporters.
Trump: “If you look at the end of the Civil War — the 1800s, it was a very turbulent time. If you take the end day — was it 1869? Or whatever.” pic.twitter.com/7DaJhePIzD
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 27, 2025
“Again, I say if you look at the end of the Civil War — the 1800s, it was a very turbulent time. If you take the end day — was it 1869? Or whatever — but you take that exact date and that’s when that case was filed,” he continued.
Although the president meant to use that statement to help his argument of ending birthright citizenship, dozens of users instead zoned in on the date Trump mentioned. The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, meaning it was over years before Trump’s guess.
This prompted immediate jokes and mockery online, with many users accusing the president of not knowing “basic American history.”
“This isn’t some trivial gaffe, it’s a president of the United States mangling basic American history while trying to push a dangerous, unconstitutional agenda on birthright citizenship,” one user commented.
This isn’t some trivial gaffe it’s a president of the United States mangling basic American history while trying to push a dangerous, unconstitutional agenda on birthright citizenship.
— 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕥🌴Siegien 🐦📷 (@margaretsiegien) June 27, 2025
“This moron has no clue about American history!” one user chided. Another wrote, “There’s just no way he could pass a 5th grade history test.”
Others tied their jabs back into Trump’s bid for undoing birthright citizenship, noting that those applying for citizenship have to know American history.
The US President couldn’t pass the citizenship test
— Don Draper (@DonDraperMadMen) June 27, 2025
“The US President couldn’t pass the citizenship test,” one user declared. Another mocked, “Those are things that you need to know if you want to pass an immigration test [by the way].”
Birthright citizenship was enshrined into the Constitution under the 14th Amendment in 1868, which some users noted was one year off of the year Trump named. However, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling could mean that babies born in the U.S. to undocumented parents or visitors could no longer be eligible for automatic citizenship.
Originally published on Latin Times
