President Trump compared his presidency to that of Andrew Jackson while marking the birthday of the nation’s seventh president on Wednesday.
Speaking outside of The Hermitage, Jackson’s estate in Nashville, Tenn., Trump referred to Jackson as the people’s president, echoing the populist comparisons made by pundits about himself and Jackson.
“It was during the revolution that Jackson first confronted and defied an arrogant elite. Does that sound familiar?” Trump said ahead of his rally in the city Wednesday evening, according to White House pool reports.
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Trump said his visit to The Hermitage was “inspirational” and that he is “a fan.”
“Captured by the red coats and ordered to shine the shoes of a British officer, Jackson simply refused,” Trump said, referencing Jackson’s capture by the British during the Revolutionary War.
“From that day on Andrew Jackson rejected authority that looked down on the common people.”
“People are proud again of our country and you’re going to get prouder and prouder and prouder,” Trump said.
During a speech earlier in the day in Detroit, Mich., Trump also made the comparison between his election and Jackson’s.
“Today, I will be visiting the home of Andrew Jackson on the 250th anniversary of his birth. And they say my election was most similar to his –– 1828. That’s a long time ago,” Trump said at the American Center for Mobility.
“Usually they go back like to this one, or that one, 12 years ago, 16. I mean, 1828, that’s a long way. That’s a long time ago.”