CNN historian says Trump’s mugshot comparable to John Wilkes Booth 'wanted poster,' will stir ‘neo civil war'

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CNN historian says Trump’s mugshot comparable to John Wilkes Booth 'wanted poster,' will stir ‘Neo-civil war'

Historian Douglas Brinkley claimed that the mugshot that will be taken of former President Donald Trump for his indictment in New York will be a historical artifact as iconic as the wanted poster of Abraham Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth.

On CNN, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley claimed that the mugshot that will be taken of former President Donald Trump after he’s detained for his indictment in New York will be a historical artifact as iconic as the wanted poster of Abraham Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth.

He also claimed the arrest of Trump represents such a tense moment in America that it could be seen as a key contributing incident in the nation's "neo civil war."

Brinkley’s comments came the morning after the New York DA’s office announced that it would be indicting the former president, most likely for hush money payments Trump allegedly made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

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Historian Douglas Brinkley claims that former President Trumps potential mugshot may have as much historical impact as John Wilkes Booth "Wanted" posters. (Screenshot/CNN)

Reports have claimed Trump will likely be detained next Tuesday. 

Speaking on "CNN Newsroom" Friday morning, Brinkley argued that Trump’s indictment is a low point for the Republican Party, stating, "I mean, we think of the GOP as Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and it’s descending into Donald Trump, who is being indicted. And this is the first indictment with maybe others to come."

He expressed disbelief over the fact that Trump still has GOP support, saying, "Yet the Republican Party seems to be backing him for reelection. One would have thought January 6, and Trump’s involvement with that would have been enough to derail Trump, that would have been the end of his role in politics."

He then mentioned the impending spectacle of a Trump arrest and the imagery that will accompany it, imagery that he claimed will rival one of the darkest moments in American history.

Brinkley stated, "Now we’re set up to see the biggest reality show that’s actually real come to life … I can’t even think of an artifact except maybe ‘Wanted: John Wilkes Booth’ after the Lincoln assassination of a wanted poster or a mug shot that’s going to be circulating around the world in a kind of way this one of Donald Trump is."

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a 2024 election campaign rally in Waco, Texas, March 25, 2023. - Trump held the rally at the site of the deadly 1993 standoff between an anti-government cult and federal agents.  ((Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images))

The historian added, "The fingerprinting, the booking of him. It’s really dramatic stuff, and it’s never happened before in American history. We’re all going to be glued, leaning forward to our television sets on Tuesday if all of this unravels as it looks like it is."

Elsewhere during the segment, Brinkley talked about Trump’s indictment as a moment in American’s "neo civil war."

He said, "This is going to be one of those tinderbox moments where, you know, if we can make it through this. And we all have to be clear – just because President Trump’s been indicted doesn’t mean he’s been convicted. Nevertheless, this is stirring the pot of America’s neo civil war like nothing else I could have imagined."

Nadine Seiler holds a "Trump Indicted" sign in front of the White House after former U.S. President Donald Trump's indictment by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in Washington, U.S. March 31, 2023.  (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

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"It’s all about which side are you on right now," the historian concluded.