Thune calls Trump remarks on lynching ‘inappropriate’
Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) on Tuesday said it was “inappropriate” for President Trump to compare the House impeachment inquiry to lynching.
“That’s not appropriate in any context,” he added. “It’s just inappropriate.”
Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, is the latest lawmaker to push back against the president, after he made the comparison in a tweet on Tuesday.
{mosads}Trump wrote that Republicans should recognize that they are “witnessing” a lynching in the form of impeachment.
“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!”
Democrats are wading deeper into an impeachment inquiry focused on Trump asking Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, and whether or not the administration held up aid in an effort to pressure the country.
The tweet sparked near immediate backlash from House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), one of the most influential black lawmakers in Congress, and other lawmakers.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on Tuesday that “I don’t agree with that language.”
Thune is the highest ranking Senate Republican to push back against the president’s remarks.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not comment as he walked from the Senate floor to his office when asked by reporters about Trump’s tweet.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to McConnell, said “some people” would find Trump’s comparison offensive.
“Well I remember when Clarence Thomas called his confirmation hearing a high-tech lynching. Obviously that’s hyperbole, and some people might find it offensive,” Cornyn said.
Asked if he was one of the people who would find it offensive, he added: “Listen I’ve got a pretty high threshold when it comes to being offended around here or I would be offended all day every day.”
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