Donald Trump has claimed while Abraham Lincoln "did good" for African-Americans, the end result was "questionable".
The US President made the curious claim during an interview with Fox News, also saying aside from Lincoln, he's done more for blacks than any other President in history.
"Let's take a pass on Abraham Lincoln 'cause he did good - although it's always questionable you know, in other words the end result."
Host Harris Faulkner - an African-American woman - interrupted him: "But we are free."
"But we are free," Trump repeated. "You understand what I mean."
Lincoln was US President between 1861 and 1865. His Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 freed the slaves, and he is routinely ranked as the greatest of United States' 45 Presidents to date.
Trump's comments come after two weeks of protests over police brutality and racial bias against minorities, particularly black people, under the banner 'Black Lives Matter'. Trump ordered authorities in cities rocked by protests to deploy force to end them.
He didn't elaborate on what he meant by the end result of ending slavery being "questionable".
Trump made a similar boast about his achievements for black people last week on Twitter, a claim the New York Times said was false - instead giving the honour to 1960s President Lyndon Johnson, who improved civil and voting rights.
"This may well be the President's most audacious claim ever,” professor of political science Michael K Fauntroy told the paper. "Not only has he not done more than anybody else, he's done close to the least."
"I would say the only president who rivals Trump in terms of treatment toward African-Americans is Andrew Johnson, the most explicitly racist President we've ever had," added Eric Foner, a Civil War historian.
Trump listed criminal justice reform as his biggest accomplishment for black people, but complained no one thanked him for it.
