When MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell (pictured above left) tried Wednesday to get historian Michael Beschloss to “fact-check” President Donald Trump’s claims on the Gettysburg Address as “fake news” on “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” he didn’t quite play along.

“One quick question, one quick fact-check: The president has been saying that [former President] Abraham Lincoln was criticized for the Gettysburg Address at his rallies in defending his own ability to — for history to prove that he will surmount the criticism,” Mitchell began. “Was [Lincoln] criticized?”

Close

Beschloss, author of the new book “Presidents at War,” replied, “Yes, [Lincoln] was criticized for the Gettysburg Address by newspapers that hated Lincoln and wanted to support his opponent the next year when he ran for re-election.”

“Not too unusual, but there were huge numbers of newspapers who understood Lincoln and even at that moment knew that Gettysburg Address would be a great document in American history,” Beschloss added.

Mitchell sought a specific verdict on Trump’s claim, asking, “So it wasn’t all fake news?”

“It was not all fake news,” Beschloss confirmed.

While speaking during a Montana rally on September 6, Trump made an analogy between how many mainstream media members view him and how the press covered Lincoln’s iconic 271-word speech, which became one of the nation’s best known and most highly regarded speeches.

“You know, when Abraham Lincoln made that Gettysburg Address speech, the great speech, you know he was ridiculed?” Trump said. “And he was excoriated by the fake news. They had fake news then. They said it was a terrible, terrible speech.”

“Fifty years after his death, they said it may have been the greatest speech ever made in America,” Trump added.

“I have a feeling that’s going to happen with us. In different ways, that’s going to happen with us.”

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

Lincoln famously began the Gettysburg Address with the words “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Related: Trump Faced 92 Percent Negative Media Coverage, MRC Study Shows

But media members and others mocked Trump on Twitter for comparing himself to Lincoln and the speech he gave during the Civil War following the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Some pointed to a few papers that covered Lincoln’s speech positively, such as The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

“To be clear. Trump is comparing his speeches to Lincoln’s Gettysburg,” MSNBC’s Katy Tur tweeted.

The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey tweeted, “Trump says Abraham Lincoln was skewered by the ‘fake news’ for his Gettysburg Address. But people eventually gave him credit. ??”

“Forget the Gettysburg Address: What percentage of the national anthem does the president know?” the Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale tweeted.

Author Stephen King tweeted, “Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address. [Donald] Trump writes tweets.”