President Trump draws fire for calling impeachment inquiry 'a lynching'
Trump's 'lynching' tweet provokes strong reactions; chief White House correspondent John Roberts reports.
Conservative Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh applauded President Trump Wednesday, saying the commander-in-chief used the word "lynching" in a deliberate attempt to deflect attention from testimony by Bill Taylor, a top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine.
"I believe now that Trump did this on purpose," Limbaugh said on his radio program. "I believe he did it knowing full well what the reaction would be, because the timing of it was perfect."
Taylor testified unequivocally Tuesday that Trump pushed Ukraine to investigate both election interference and a company linked to former Vice President Joe Biden's son -- and was willing to hold up military aid and a White House meeting to get a public announcement from the country that the probes were underway.
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In a tweet Tuesday, Trump compared the House impeachment inquiry into his dealings with Ukraine to "a lynching." Critics deplored the comparison, saying it essentially likening the horrors of a deadly and racist chapter in U.S. history to a lawful process laid out in the Constitution.
"All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here - a lynching," Trump tweeted.
On his show, Limbaugh backed up his claim by saying he believes Trump "knows how to play the media."
"When he said he was being lynched he knew what he was doing. He knows how to play these people like a [violin], "Limbaugh said. "He knew what the media reaction was gonna be."
The radio hist dismissed Taylor's testimony and coverage that he is a "game-changer" and mocked the media for deflecting from the Taylor testimony.
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"And the timing was perfect because the media covered up their own bombshell! Which is this ambassador, a guy named Taylor, supposedly had what Mueller couldn’t find, supposedly had what Comey had," Limbaugh said.
"'This guy had the goods, why, this was game-changing testimony.' How many times have we heard, game-changer, game-changer, walls are closing in. The guy’s got nothing!"
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.