Award #1: Biggest History Fool of 2020 (aka Weemsy of the Year)
Of all the people who said incredibly stupid and demonstrably false statements about US history, who stood supreme in 2020?
1. President Donald J. Trump - last year's runner-up for this honor (bested by Dinesh D'Souza) took 2020 by storm, earning a record 22 Weemsy nominations for saying things like:
* the wheel was invented in the US
* he’s the hardest working president in US history
* he’s been treated ‘worse’ than Lincoln
* COVID-19 – which came with a 2-month warning – was "worse than" surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor and 9/11
* ‘Nobody had ever heard of' Juneteenth before he made it “very famous”
* anti-racism protests are a plot “to overthrow the American Revolution”
* the ‘1917’ pandemic ended World War II—which began in 1939
* “George Washington would have had a hard time beating me” pre-pandemic
* he received a non-existent “Bay of Pigs Award”
* Abraham Lincoln “wasn’t big on the Hispanic movement"
* "Everyone thinks that Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat"
2. Senator Tom Cotton – he also had a big year with 5 Weemsy nominations for things like:
* saying the US shouldn't give visas to Chinese students to study science, but rather the Federalist Papers or Shakespeare
* proposing legislation attacking the award-winning 1619 Project
* saying slavery was “the necessary evil upon which the nation was built”
* claiming radical left “revisionist charlatans” threatened commemorations of the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival on the Mayflower
* invoking the Confederate battle cry of “No Quarter” in calling for a military response to unrest in cities like Portland
Award #2: Most Astonishingly Stupid Reference to Slavery
Vote for ONE nominee in this category
1. Rapper Kanye West saying that Harriet Tubman did not free any slaves
2. Senator Tom Cotton saying that slavery was “the necessary evil upon which the nation was built”
3. Dinesh D’Souza saying because Kamala Harris descended from a wealthy white slaveholder, “she’s a beneficiary, not a victim, of slavery”
4. Mayor Pete Buttigieg saying that America’s Founders “did not understand that slavery was a bad thing”
5. Mississippi County Supervisor Harry Sanders who said blacks are “dependent” on government because slaveholders provided them with everything
6. Commentator Tomi Lahren who compared social distancing to “willful slavery”
Award #3: Most Ridiculous Reference to History Regarding the COVID-19 Lockdown
Vote for ONE nominee in this category
1. Economic advisor Stephen Moore comparing COVID-19 lockdown protesters to Rosa Parks
2. Idaho representative Heather Scott calling the governor “Little Hitler” and comparing the state’s COVID-19 lockdown to “Nazi Germany”
3. Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley comparing the state’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order to Japanese internment
4. Football coach Lou Holtz comparing college football’s COVID-19 risk to the D-Day invasion: “They knew there were gonna be casualties”
5. Ohio state representative Nino Vitale denouncing face masks, saying the men who fought in the Revolution and attended the Constitutional Convention did not wear them
6. Political commentator Mike Huckabee denouncing COVID-19 restrictions: “We are the party of the emancipation proclamation, not the emasculation proclamation”
Award #4: Greatest History Fail by a Journalist, Commentator, or Media Personality
Vote for ONE nominee in this category
1. Rush Limbaugh urging Americans to “adapt” to COVID-19, like the famous pioneers who when faced with starvation, “had to turn to cannibalism”
2. Ben Shapiro saying, “the US did not commit genocide against Native Americans. That's a lie”
3. Joy Behar claiming George Washington freed his slaves
4. Brian Kilmeade defending Andrew Jackson’s role in the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears
5. Lou Dobbs saying of Trump, “No president in his first term in office has ever seen this kind of challenge and threat to the US”
Award #5: Best History Crash and Burn Related to Business
Vote for ONE nominee in this category
1. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg claiming President Trump’s “looting and shooting” reference “has no history of being read as a dog whistle”
2. Nevada candidate Mindy Robinson slamming Land O Lakes’ removal of the Native American woman image from its packaging as, “eras[ing] that part of history where Native Americans were the first to bring farming and agriculture to this country.”
3. Trump rally speaker Reagan Escudé who criticized Quaker Oats for renaming its Aunt Jemima products, saying Aunt Jemima – a fictional racist caricature - was the “picture of the American Dream'”
4. Geico Insurance running (and then pulling) an ad joking about a “Fort Pillow,” which was also the name of a Civil War massacre of black soldiers.
Award #6: Most Absurd History Claim about US Presidents
Vote for ONE nominee in this category
1. Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich arguing that today’s Democrats in House of Representatives would have impeached Abraham Lincoln
2. Candidate Joe Biden saying that Trump was the first racist elected president
3. President Trump claiming repeatedly, “Everyone thinks that Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat"
4. Commentator Newt Gingrich declaring Joe Biden’s win, “the biggest Presidential theft since Adams and Clay robbed Andrew Jackson in 1824”
5. Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis posting fake Teddy Roosevelt quote (“To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth”) and then defending it, “because the idea itself is true, whether or not he said it!”
6. White House official Peter Navarro claiming Trump is “hardest working president in history”
Award #1: Biggest History Fool of 2020 (aka Weemsy of the Year)
The person who said the most incredibly ridiculous and demonstrably false statements about US history in 2020 -
WINNER - President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump earned a record 22 Weemsy™ nominations for saying things like the wheel was invented in the US, “Nobody had ever heard of” Juneteenth before he made it “very famous,” anti-racism protests were a plot “to overthrow the American Revolution,” Abraham Lincoln “wasn’t big on the Hispanic movement,” and that COVID-19 – which came with a 2-month warning – was “worse than” surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
RUNNER UP: Senator Tom Cotton (see Award #2)
Award #2: The person who made the most astonishingly stupid reference to slavery in 2020
WINNER - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark) for saying that slavery was “the necessary evil upon which the nation was built.”
(scroll down to see the other nominees)
Award #3: Most Ridiculous Reference to History Regarding COVID-19 in 2020
WINNER - Former football coach Lou Holtz for comparing the risk of playing college football games during the COVID-19 pandemic to the D-Day invasion: “They knew there were gonna be casualties.”
(scroll down to see the other nominees)
Award #4: Greatest History Fail by a Journalist, Commentator, or Media Personality in 2020
WINNER - Commentator Ben Shapiro for saying, “the US did not commit genocide against Native Americans. That's a lie.”
(scroll down to see the other nominees)
Award #5: Best History Crash and Burn Related to Business in 2020
WINNER - Trump rally speaker Reagan Escudé who criticized Quaker Oats for renaming its Aunt Jemima syrup, saying Aunt Jemima – a fictional racist caricature – achieved great business success and was the “picture of the American Dream.”
(scroll down to see the other nominees)
Award #6: Most Absurd History Claim about US Presidents in 2020 -
WINNER - White House official Peter Navarro claiming that Donald Trump is “hardest working president in history.”
(scroll down to see the other nominees)
Who will win a Weemsy in 2021? Winners will be announced Thursday Dec 9, 2021.
Last Year's 2020 Weemsy Awards™ winners!
The 2020 Finalists
Copyright © Edward T. O'Donnell and In The Past Lane™ 2023