<p class="title">US President Donald Trump on Tuesday likened the impeachment investigation against him to a "lynching," a racially charged word from the darkest days of America's slavery legacy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was an immediate backlash to Trump's tweet in which he claimed that impeachment was unfair and stripping him of his legal rights, although a senior Republican senator backed up the president.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here -- a lynching. But we will WIN!," Trump tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said she was "sickened to see Trump's gross misappropriation of this term today."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Clarke said that 4,743 people were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968, of which 3,446 were African Americans.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Lynchings were crimes against humanity and an ugly part of our nation's history of racial violence," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's beyond shameful to use the word 'lynching' to describe being held accountable for your actions," said Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump is being investigated for possible impeachment in the Democratic-led House of Representatives over his alleged abuse of office. He is counting on the Republican-dominated Senate to acquit him if the House does vote to impeach.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican, however, said he fully agreed with Trump's complaint.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Yes this is a lynching in every sense. This is un-American," he told reporters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Graham said that the impeachment probe failed to give Trump the ability to defend himself and is a "complete sham."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn't live very long in the Senate," he said.</p>
<p class="title">US President Donald Trump on Tuesday likened the impeachment investigation against him to a "lynching," a racially charged word from the darkest days of America's slavery legacy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was an immediate backlash to Trump's tweet in which he claimed that impeachment was unfair and stripping him of his legal rights, although a senior Republican senator backed up the president.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here -- a lynching. But we will WIN!," Trump tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said she was "sickened to see Trump's gross misappropriation of this term today."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Clarke said that 4,743 people were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968, of which 3,446 were African Americans.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Lynchings were crimes against humanity and an ugly part of our nation's history of racial violence," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's beyond shameful to use the word 'lynching' to describe being held accountable for your actions," said Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump is being investigated for possible impeachment in the Democratic-led House of Representatives over his alleged abuse of office. He is counting on the Republican-dominated Senate to acquit him if the House does vote to impeach.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican, however, said he fully agreed with Trump's complaint.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Yes this is a lynching in every sense. This is un-American," he told reporters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Graham said that the impeachment probe failed to give Trump the ability to defend himself and is a "complete sham."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn't live very long in the Senate," he said.</p>