"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." August 22, 1862--A. Lincoln
I took no sentence out of context. Deny he said it? Deny he meant it?
Denial yourself?
As I say, lift what you will out of the context of the time. Less than one month after he said, that, L. issued the EP. That says it all.