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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

During an Oct. 22, 2020, debate between then-President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Biden referred to Trump facetiously as Abraham Lincoln after Trump invoked the 16th president.

Trump said: “Nobody has done more for the black community than Donald Trump. And if you look, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln — possible exception, but the exception of Lincoln — nobody has done what I’ve done.”

Biden later replied, referring to Trump: “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history.”

An ad that ran on Facebook and Instagram falsely stated that Biden called Lincoln one of the most racist presidents in history.

The ad ran Feb. 3 and 4, 2024. It targeted people in Wisconsin and other states and offered a free “Trump 2024” flag.

The ad was placed by Liberty Defender Group; its Facebook page contains no description of the group.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

CNBC Television: Joe Biden calls President Donald Trump one of the most racist presidents in history

ABC News: Biden and Trump speak on institutional racism in America

Facebook: Liberty Defender Group Facebook-Instagram ad

Facebook: Liberty Defender Group

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Did Joe Biden call Abraham Lincoln one of the most racist presidents in history?

by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
February 12, 2024

<h1>Did Joe Biden call Abraham Lincoln one of the most racist presidents in history?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />February 12, 2024</p>

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<figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img src="https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Wisconsin_Watch_fact_brief-782x409.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1278996 size-full" /></figure>
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<p><em><em><a href="https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">Wisconsin Watch</a></em> partners with&nbsp;<a href="https://gigafact.org/">Gigafact</a>&nbsp;to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/how-wisconsin-watch-checks-claims-for-its-gigafact-fact-briefs/">Read our methodology</a> to learn how we check claims.</em></p>
</p></div>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">No.</h2>
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<p>During an Oct. 22, 2020, debate between then-President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Biden referred to Trump facetiously as Abraham Lincoln after Trump invoked the 16th president.</p>
<p>Trump&nbsp;said: “Nobody has done more for the black community than Donald Trump. And if you look, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln — possible exception, but the exception of Lincoln — nobody has done what I’ve done.”</p>
<p>Biden later&nbsp;replied, referring to Trump: “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history.”</p>
<p>An ad&nbsp;that ran on Facebook and Instagram falsely stated that Biden called Lincoln one of the most racist presidents in history.</p>
<p>The ad ran Feb. 3 and 4, 2024. It targeted people in Wisconsin and other states and offered a free “Trump 2024” flag.</p>
<p>The ad was placed by Liberty Defender Group; its Facebook page contains no description of the group.</p>
<p><em>This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&amp;ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&amp;country=US&amp;id=1330153118379434&amp;media_type=all" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this one</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<p>CNBC Television: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0UhBmg5OQU&amp;t=88s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joe Biden calls President Donald Trump one of the most racist presidents in history</a></p>
<p>ABC News: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oU3N1_roPY&amp;t=180s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biden and Trump speak on institutional racism in America</a></p>
<p>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&amp;ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&amp;country=US&amp;id=1330153118379434&amp;media_type=all" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Liberty Defender Group Facebook-Instagram ad</a></p>
<p>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/people/Liberty-Defender-Group/100093381469101/?sk=about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Liberty Defender Group</a></p>
</p></div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/02/biden-abraham-lincoln-trump-president-racist-fact-brief/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org&quot;&gt;Wisconsin Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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