The U.S President Donald Trump has compared the impeachment process against him to being lynched in an incendiary tweet. It sparked swift outcry on Tuesday morning. Trump wrote on Twitter, “So someday, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights”. He added, “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here, a lynching. But we will WIN”! It is noteworthy that the acts of lynching grew along with racial tension in the late 19th century across the United States. There were 4,473 total lynchings in the country from 1882-1968.
NAACP mentioned that the majority of those victims being black people. The White House also released a statement shortly after saying, “The president’s not comparing what’s happened to him to one of the country’s darkest moments. White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley reportedly said, “The president has used many words, all types of language, to talk about the way the media has treated him”. But, Trump’s use of the term still generated immediate backlash on Capitol Hill. A New Jersey Democrat and 2020 hopeful, Senator Cory Booker said, “Lynching is an act of terror used to uphold white supremacy. Try again”.
So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here – a lynching. But we will WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2019
Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush also slammed Trump and wrote on Twitter, “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know how many people who look like me have been lynched, since the inception of this country, by people who look like you? Delete this tweet”. A South Carolina Democrat and the House majority whip, James Clyburn said that he was personally offended by the president’s remarks as a black man living in the south, where lynchings have been a historic issue. He added, “That is one word no president ought to apply to himself. I don’t know if we’ve seen anything quite like this. Andrew Jackson would never describe what was happening to him this way”. The former chairman of the Republican National Committee also posted a photograph of an actual lynching with some words. He wrote, “It’s pathetic that you act like you’re such a victim. You should know better”.