Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green claimed President Trump’s use of the word “lynching” makes him “no better” than members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Trump faced criticisms from both parties after he compared the impeachment inquiry into his relationship with Ukrainian leaders to “a lynching.”
During a speech from the House floor on Tuesday, Green expressed his outrage at Trump’s statements.
.@RepAlGreen: “How dare the president compare lynching to impeachment. How dare he do this! Does he not know the history of lynching in this country?!?”
Full video: https://t.co/QqlS5GyBbd pic.twitter.com/GZZq6beYjq
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 22, 2019
“How dare the president compare lynching to impeachment,” Green said. “How dare he do this? Does he not know the history of lynching in this country?”
Green declared that Trump’s comments made him “no better” than the Klansmen who terrorized black Americans for decades.
He addressed Trump, saying, “If you continue to weaponize racism and bigotry, this makes you no better than those who were screaming ‘blood and soil,’ ‘Jews will not replace us.’ It makes you no better than them.”
He added, “It makes you no better than those who burn crosses. It makes you no better than those who wear hoods and white robes.”
Green was the first House Democrat to force a vote on impeachment in December 2017. He claimed Trump’s lynching comparison is further reason to move impeachment today.
“At some point, we must say enough is enough,” said Green. “At some point, we must move on to impeach.”
Many criticized Trump’s language, though Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham stood by the comments, calling the impeachment inquiry a “lynching in every sense.”
[Related: Trump’s ‘lynching’ comparison earns bipartisan criticism]
