“There is no evidence that Abraham Lincoln ever said this”
Misquoting great historical figures has practically become an art. And one of the most misquoted leaders of all is Abraham Lincoln. Of course, we’d expect a little more from the group that literally calls itself “The Party of Lincoln.”
But the official Twitter account of the Republican Party showed just how much they’d moved from the party of Lincoln to the party of Trump, by tweeting a fake quote from the former president and then refusing to take it down nearly a full day even as it seemed like the entire Internet was collapsing upon them with hilarious memes.
The misquote was first exposed by CNN journalist Jake Tapper, who tweeted a screen shot from the GOP account, noting: “There is no evidence that Abraham Lincoln ever said this.”
The quote in question reads: It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
The quote has been inaccurately attributed to Lincoln many times before. So, while embarrassing, it’s not terribly shocking that someone behind the GOP’s Twitter account would make the mistake. However, even after it was pointed out by Tapper, and re-tweeted and shared thousands of times, the GOP refused to take the tweet down for more than 10 hours:
By Monday morning, the tweet was finally deleted with no further explanation.
As to the origin of the quote itself? People have also attributed to public figures like Adlai Stevenson, who twice unsuccessfully ran for the presidency. But the earliest confirmed usage is actually from a trade magazine promoting the anti-aging properties of its products back in 1947.
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