Trump thinks he won Michigan's 'man of the year' award, but a former congressman says it was actually just a framed copy of the Gettysburg Address
- President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he was honored with a Michigan 'man of the year' award, most recently at his New Hampshire campaign rally Thursday night.
- On Friday, former GOP congressman Dave Trott told Michigan Live and CNN that Trump was likely mistaking a framed copy of the Gettysburg Address he was presented with by Trott in 2013 for a 'man of the year' award.
- Trott invited Trump to be the keynote speaker of the 2013 Oakland County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner in Michigan, and presented him with a tie, a statuette of Abraham Lincoln, and the framed copy of the address.
- At a 2017 roundtable discussion in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with auto executives, Trump said Trott presented him with the Michigan 'man of the year' award, and Trott didn't correct him then, because he thought it would be embarrassing for the president.
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President Donald Trump's claim that he was honored with a Michigan 'man of the year' award was at least partially debunked by former GOP Michigan Representative Dave Trott, who believes Trump is misremembering what he was actually presented with.
Trump has reiterated the claim, despite outlets like CNN and The Huffington Post being unable to find any evidence of such an award being presented to the president at any time. Most recently, Trump said he had won the award during his Thursday night campaign rally in New Hampshire.
Trott told Michigan Live and CNN that in 2013, he invited Trump to be the keynote speaker at the Oakland County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner. During the event, he presented Trump with a tie, a statuette of Abraham Lincoln, and a framed copy of the Gettysburg Address.
Michigan Live reporter Malachi Barrett tweeted out a few photos on Friday taken by the publication that night in 2013, showing Trump being presented with the framed copy of the address, along with the statuette and tie. There was no 'man of the year' award presented that night, and Trott said Trump delivered a "rambling speech touching every topic under the sun."
Trott also told the publications that in 2017, at a roundtable discussion in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with Trump, Cabinet members, and auto industry executives, the president brought up the award that never was.
Specifically, Trump thanked Trott and said he had been given a Michigan 'man of the year' award about five or six years ago, after which he made a speech about the state's car industry being "stolen" from Michigan. Trott responded by telling the president his speech had been great.
The former congressman told The Detroit News that he knew at the time Trump was wrong, but he "sure wasn't comfortable correcting him in front of a group of automotive CEOs. It [...] would've been embarrassing to him." The exchange between Trump and Trott in 2017 was recorded.
Trott told CNN that now he is no longer a member of Congress, he feels comfortable correcting the story.
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