Trump decided Lincoln would be a good look on him.

President Trump gave a two-hour interview to Fox News on Sunday night in the Lincoln Memorial. His mix of self-pity and self-congratulation was startling, especially given the backdrop, as more than 67,000 Americans have been killed by an invisible enemy that has yet to be contained and the country plunges deeper into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Yebbut look. Lincoln. Trump is another Lincoln. Right? Sure.

“They always said … nobody got treated worse than [Abraham] Lincoln. I believe I am treated worse,” said Trump, pointing toward the statue of a president who was assassinated days after winning the Civil War. “You know, I believe we’ve done more than any president in the history of our country in the first three years, three-and-a-half years. I really believe that.”

The fact that Trump really believes something is not a reason for anyone else to believe it. Rather the reverse.

Trump’s claim that no president has been treated worse than he came in response to a question from a supporter named Carolyn Perkins, a retired nurse and elementary school guidance counselor.

“The question I have is about your manner of presentation,” Perkins said. “Why do you use descriptive words that could be classified as bullying? And why do you not directly answer the questions asked by the press but instead speak of past successes and generally ramble? The U.S.A. needs you. Please let go of those behaviors that are turning people away from you. Please hold on to your wonderful attributes that make you our great leader and let go of other characteristics that do not serve you.”

If you take the bullying and boasting and rambling away what’s left? What are those wonderful attributes exactly?

“Look, I am greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has ever seen,” Trump responded. Motioning toward the statue of the 16th president, the 45th president said: “The closest would be that gentleman right up there.”

And yet, Lincoln didn’t respond to hostility with torrents of personal abuse. It’s almost as if that’s not the only possible way to react.

Trump’s boast about “winning” came as he once again seesawed over his estimate of the number of Americans who will die from the contagion. “Look, we’re going to lose anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people,” he said, arguing that more than 2 million might have died if he hadn’t acted to slow the spread. “I really believe we could have saved a million-and-a-half lives.”

Second invocation of what he really believes. It’s typical of his inability to think that he thinks his really believing something would make it true.

Shaina Cruz of Cullman, Ala., a single mother, said she was already living paycheck to paycheck when she lost her job in March. “I haven’t received a stimulus payment or anything from unemployment,” she told the president. “I’m behind on every bill, about to evicted and have had to rely on donations in order to feed my children. I feel frustrated and I feel scared, not knowing where to turn or what to do. What advice do you have for me and others in my situation? Is there more help coming?”

Trump promised that help is coming. “You’re going to get another job or you’re going to get a better job. You’ll get a job where you make more money, frankly, and I think that’s going to happen,” he told Cruz.

He thinks it’s going to happen. That’s not what she asked. She asked about actual help, now. His thinking she will get a better job is not that help.

The president predicted that the economy will be “incredible” next year and start to transition back to a good place in the third quarter. “I really believe that,” he said. “I have a good feel for this stuff.”

Third “really believe.” Still doesn’t make anything happen.