According to USA Today, President Trump referred to his impeachment inquiry as a “lynching.” Yes, you read that right. The President of the United States took to his infamous Twitter page to relate the investigation of his alleged crimes to one of the darkest practices of racism in our nation’s history. Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry surrounds crimes he has allegedly committed which, if proven true, have affected our country at one of the highest levels of government.

Lynching is defined as “a premeditated extrajudicial killing by a group.” According to Britannica, lynching is “a form of violence in which a mob, under the pretext of administering justice without trial, executes a presumed offender, often after inflicting torture and corporal mutilation.” Lynching was not a legal process; nowhere in the Constitution does it say that a man can be executed without conviction.

         Impeachment, on the other hand, is outlined clearly in the constitution. It is the right of the people to be able to try the elected President should he have possibly committed a crime. It is a check on the Presidential powers outlined, again, in the Constitution of the United States. To many, it is the duty of the American Congress and its people to push for these proceedings.

         If tried,the president can utilize a defense team. There is a legal investigation. Lynching occured with non of that. People were accused and executed on the basis of their race or their ideologies; being African-American often equated to being guilty in court proceedings related to lynching. Victims of lynching were not awarded the rights and privileges the president enjoys in his impeachment proceedings.

         The likening of President Trump’s situation to lynching is making light of that horrible action. Even in a  metaphorical sense, this is racist and that fact is indisputable. The president is a privileged, white man who could be tried for a crime many have accused him of. He sits in his office, dressed nicely, using his Twitter account to liken himself to the poor men and women who were tried without defense and violently executed because they were born a different race.

         Republican congressmen are rejecting Trump’s words; however, calling it a “poor choice of words” is not enough. This is unacceptable. Everyone, including republican congressmen, should be condemning the president. They should be seething at his words, demanding that he be removed from Twitter. This level of insensitivity and racism should not go unnoticed. This cannot go forth as a “poor choice.”

This is coming from a man who should represent everyone in our country, no matter the race, sex, gender, etc. of the people. His constituents include everyone on this soil, here working their lives away to support their children, coming here for a better life, teaching our future politicians and astronauts. He is the President of these United States, created by the founding fathers as a place of freedom for all. The President is not the victim here–if anything, he has made himself the perpetrator of racism in a country where he should be representing everyone. We all should be appalled and searching for change.

Let’s not be like President Trump. Let’s create inclusive and just communities for everyone. Let’s continue to erase these comparisons and comments from our daily lives and start expecting our President to do the same.

Photo courtesy of variety.com.