US Democrats and a large number of social media users had a field day with Trump over his use of the word “lynching” to describe the ongoing impeachment inquiry initiated by the Dems. Even some Republicans voiced their disapproval of the language the president chose in his tweeted condemnation. Critics claim it was “inappropriate” to compare the political process to the historical practice in the American south of hanging suspected criminals (usually black people) without due process by the law.
Modern-day outrage over the use of word comes across as artificial and borderline hypocritical considering that “lynching” was the Democrats’ go-to word during the exact same situation two decades ago.
An “independent Trump supporter” who goes on Twitter by @ALX, compiled a thread made up entirely of Democratic lawmakers lambasting the impeachment inquiry against former President Bill Clinton in 1998, all using the word “lynching” in their language from the tribunes of US Congress.
Representatives Jim McDermott, Gregory Meeks, Danny Davis, Senator Harry Reid and even the future Secretary of State John Kerry and future Vice President Joe Biden called the process a “political lynching” in 1998. It is arguably most ironic that Representatives Meeks and Davis are both black, yet did not shy away from the use of the word.
Others have more recently used the word in a similar context. Both 2020 Dem presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Cory Booker called the fake January 2019 attacks on actor Jussie Smollett a “modern-day lynching” in their tweets, yet both Harris and Booker called out Trump for using the same word less than one year later.
A tweeted video shows Harris at a loss of words when called out for her double standard.
Apparently, the word “lynching” was acceptable when the Democrats needed it but now, when Trump uses it, it is suddenly "inappropriate."