DOG WHISTLE

Trump Says Impeachment Probe Against Him Is the Same as a ‘Lynching’

The president provoked fury Tuesday morning by comparing impeachment proceedings against him to racist hate crimes.

Even for President Trump, this is crass. In a tweet posted Tuesday morning, Trump compared the impeachment proceedings against him to a “lynching,” sparking immediate criticism from people who said he was trivializing racist hate crimes against black Americans. “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,” he wrote. “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here—a lynching. But we will WIN!” Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti responded to the president: “You are seriously comparing your impeachment to hate crimes against African-Americans?”