President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on October 21, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Oct 22, 2019
President Donald Trump took his hysterical response to House Democrats' impeachment inquiry to a new level Tuesday morning by calling the congressional proceedings "a lynching," a term that evokes the long history of racist violence against black people in the United States.
"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," Trump tweeted. "All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here--a lynching. But we will WIN!"
\u201cSo 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!\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1571745148
The president's tweet equating the constitutional process of impeachment to extrajudicial killings sparked outrage from lawmakers and commentators familiar with the horrific history of lynching.
\u201cA lynching?! 4,743 people were lynched in the US between 1882 - 1968, incl. 3,446 African Americans. Lynchings were crimes against humanity and an ugly part of our nation\u2019s history of racial violence and brutality\n\nSickened to see Trump\u2019s gross misappropriation of this term today\u201d— Kristen Clarke (@Kristen Clarke) 1571746773
"You think this impeachment is a LYNCHING? What the hell is wrong with you?" tweeted Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). "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."
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) called Trump's tweet "a disgusting and ignorant message from a man who has shown no respect for history."
"How dare you?! Since the founding of our nation, African Americans have been lynched and killed just for being black," Lee said.
\u201cHow dare you?! Since the founding of our nation, African Americans have been lynched and killed just for being black. \n \nThis is a disgusting and ignorant message from a man who has shown no respect for history. We will not stand for it.\u201d— Rep. Barbara Lee (@Rep. Barbara Lee) 1571752234
Trump has a long and well-documented history of saying and doing overtly racist things, with many public figures calling it a fact that the president is a racist.
The Atlantic's Adam Serwer wrote in response to the president's tweet that "Trump has inspired multiple acts of racist violence and his referring to impeachment as a 'lynching' is risible."
"But worse," Serwer said, "will be his toadies adopting this inversion of past and present, with the nation's most powerful racist as a *victim* of racist violence, as a talking point."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump took his hysterical response to House Democrats' impeachment inquiry to a new level Tuesday morning by calling the congressional proceedings "a lynching," a term that evokes the long history of racist violence against black people in the United States.
"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," Trump tweeted. "All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here--a lynching. But we will WIN!"
\u201cSo 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!\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1571745148
The president's tweet equating the constitutional process of impeachment to extrajudicial killings sparked outrage from lawmakers and commentators familiar with the horrific history of lynching.
\u201cA lynching?! 4,743 people were lynched in the US between 1882 - 1968, incl. 3,446 African Americans. Lynchings were crimes against humanity and an ugly part of our nation\u2019s history of racial violence and brutality\n\nSickened to see Trump\u2019s gross misappropriation of this term today\u201d— Kristen Clarke (@Kristen Clarke) 1571746773
"You think this impeachment is a LYNCHING? What the hell is wrong with you?" tweeted Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). "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."
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) called Trump's tweet "a disgusting and ignorant message from a man who has shown no respect for history."
"How dare you?! Since the founding of our nation, African Americans have been lynched and killed just for being black," Lee said.
\u201cHow dare you?! Since the founding of our nation, African Americans have been lynched and killed just for being black. \n \nThis is a disgusting and ignorant message from a man who has shown no respect for history. We will not stand for it.\u201d— Rep. Barbara Lee (@Rep. Barbara Lee) 1571752234
Trump has a long and well-documented history of saying and doing overtly racist things, with many public figures calling it a fact that the president is a racist.
The Atlantic's Adam Serwer wrote in response to the president's tweet that "Trump has inspired multiple acts of racist violence and his referring to impeachment as a 'lynching' is risible."
"But worse," Serwer said, "will be his toadies adopting this inversion of past and present, with the nation's most powerful racist as a *victim* of racist violence, as a talking point."
President Donald Trump took his hysterical response to House Democrats' impeachment inquiry to a new level Tuesday morning by calling the congressional proceedings "a lynching," a term that evokes the long history of racist violence against black people in the United States.
"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," Trump tweeted. "All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here--a lynching. But we will WIN!"
\u201cSo 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!\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1571745148
The president's tweet equating the constitutional process of impeachment to extrajudicial killings sparked outrage from lawmakers and commentators familiar with the horrific history of lynching.
\u201cA lynching?! 4,743 people were lynched in the US between 1882 - 1968, incl. 3,446 African Americans. Lynchings were crimes against humanity and an ugly part of our nation\u2019s history of racial violence and brutality\n\nSickened to see Trump\u2019s gross misappropriation of this term today\u201d— Kristen Clarke (@Kristen Clarke) 1571746773
"You think this impeachment is a LYNCHING? What the hell is wrong with you?" tweeted Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). "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."
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) called Trump's tweet "a disgusting and ignorant message from a man who has shown no respect for history."
"How dare you?! Since the founding of our nation, African Americans have been lynched and killed just for being black," Lee said.
\u201cHow dare you?! Since the founding of our nation, African Americans have been lynched and killed just for being black. \n \nThis is a disgusting and ignorant message from a man who has shown no respect for history. We will not stand for it.\u201d— Rep. Barbara Lee (@Rep. Barbara Lee) 1571752234
Trump has a long and well-documented history of saying and doing overtly racist things, with many public figures calling it a fact that the president is a racist.
The Atlantic's Adam Serwer wrote in response to the president's tweet that "Trump has inspired multiple acts of racist violence and his referring to impeachment as a 'lynching' is risible."
"But worse," Serwer said, "will be his toadies adopting this inversion of past and present, with the nation's most powerful racist as a *victim* of racist violence, as a talking point."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.