Never Fight Uphill, Me Boys

Submission 11,105

Part of a series on Donald Trump. [View Related Entries]

About

Never Fight Uphill, Me Boys! is a catchphrase coined by former U.S. President Donald Trump. The line was delivered at a campaign event in Pennsylvania on April 13th, 2024, with Trump attributing the quote to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Trump's impression of the General was widely referenced in memes and mocked both online and on late-night TV, mostly due to the odd pirate-like vernacular used by Trump and due to perceived factual inaccuracies in the statement.

Origin

On April 13th, 2024, Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. In his speech at the rally, Trump brought up the Battle of Gettysburg, which took place about 100 miles away from Schnecksville.^[1] Trump's statement about Gettysburg and Robert E. Lee can be seen below.

"Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. It was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways—it represented such a big portion of the success of this country. Gettysburg, wow—I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch. And the statement of Robert E. Lee, who's no longer in favor—did you ever notice it? He's no longer in favor. 'Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.' They were fighting uphill, he said, 'Wow, that was a big mistake,' he lost his great general. 'Never fight uphill, me boys,' but it was too late."

This is not the first time Trump has falsely quoted Robert E. Lee as saying, "Never fight uphill me boys." On September 18th, 2020, Trump repeated the phrase at a campaign rally in Bemidji, Minnesota.^[8]

Following the campaign rally in Pennsylvania, X^[2] user @atrupar was one of the first to note Trump's statements in an April 14th, 2024, post that gathered over 5,000 likes in three days (seen below).

Spread

As the moment spread online, various internet users noted Trump's statement and pointed to the fact that there is no record of Robert E. Lee saying, "Never fight uphill, me boys!" Author and American biographer T.J. Stiles^[3] posted a thread directing Trump's meandering statement to X on April 14th, 2024, saying that Robert E. Lee was not one to use words like "wow" or to issue downslope-only orders (seen below, left). The thread gathered over 9,000 likes on the initial post.

On April 16th, X^[4] user @Grey_Athena posted an image from the perspective of Union lines, showing how Robert E. Lee had famously ordered an uphill advance across an open field, a failed move. The post gathered over 3,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

On April 15th, 2024, Jon Stewart's official YouTube^[5] channel posted a video from The Daily Show in which Stewart mocks Trump's Gettysburg statements. Stewart said, "That is plagiarized almost directly from my seventh-grade book report — ‘Gettysburg. Wow'" (seen below).

On April 16th, X^[6] user @EdwardVersaii posted a mock history assignment that transcribed Trump's Gettysburg remarks. The post read, "Teaching my first History course this semester has been rewarding but I don’t know what to do with this student," and gathered over 30,000 likes in a day (seen below).

On April 16th, 2024, X^[7] user @FunWithPhotoshop posted a mock documentary using Trump's quote about Gettysburg and Robert E. Lee, gathering over 500,000 views and 5,000 likes in a day (seen below).

The only sensible thing to do with Trump's "Gettysburg, Wow" speech in Pennsylvania was to make a one-minute documentary film of it. These are all his real words. I added some "bing bongs" at the start. "Never fight uphill, me boys! Never fight uphill." #FunWithPhotoshop pic.twitter.com/xFQffyCa37

— Randall Stephens (@Randall_Stps) April 16, 2024