Trump has 'surpassed an awfulness' that ranks him among America's very worst presidents: historians

Two historians appeared on CNN Wednesday to assess President Donald Trump's legacy -- and they both agreed that he would rank among the very worst presidents in history.

In a discussion with host Anderson Cooper, historians Timothy Naftali and Douglas Brinkley argued that Trump's role in inciting riots in the United States Capitol building had cemented his status at the bottom of rankings of American presidents.

"For me, he crossed the Rubicon into the bottom of the basement with January 6th," Naftali said. "The fact that he is the first president in our history to oppose the peaceful transfer of power puts him in a very special category."

Naftali then said that Trump "has surpassed an awfulness" that puts him in the same category as former Presidents James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

Brinkley shared Naftali's overall assessment and made a case for why Trump should be considered the worst ever.

"I think he is the bottom of the barrel of American presidents," he said. "He will be known for the Trump insurrection. He will be known for claiming that he was a wartime commander-in-chief when the COVID-19 virus hit America and we had a pandemic and he really did nothing. He had a very fickle policy."

Watch the video below.