Lawmakers denounce Trump ‘lynching’ remark

WASHINGTON — As another key career diplomat witness appeared on Tuesday in the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, Trump called himself the victim of a “lynching,” a comment that dredged up a painful chapter in race relations and was swiftly condemned by numerous lawmakers.

William Taylor, who as the charge d’affaires is the top U.S. envoy in Ukraine, walked past journalists without answering questions as he made his way into the U.S. Capitol for closeddoor testimony to the three Democratic-led House of Representatives committees leading the inquiry.

Taylor’s appearance marks another pivotal development in the political drama unfolding in Washington - focusing on Republican Trump’s request to Ukraine to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden - that threatens Trump’s presidency even as he pursues re-election in 2020.

Trump, a day after calling on his fellow Republicans to get tougher in defending him in the inquiry, inflamed the controversy by writing on Twitter, “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here - a lynching. But we will WIN!”

African American lawmakers and others denounced Trump for the remark because of the past U.S. history of lynching of black people, particularly in formerly pro-slavery Southern states.

“Lynching is a reprehensible stain on this nation’s history, as is this President. We’ll never erase the pain and trauma of lynching, and to invoke that torture to whitewash your own corruption is disgraceful,” Senator Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential contender, wrote on Twitter.

But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, whose home state of South Carolina has a large black population, defended Trump’s language, saying that “this is a lynching in every sense. This is unamerican.”

Trump’s administration has not cooperated in the impeachment inquiry, seeking to block testimony and documents.