What Donald Trump is really trying to distract us from today with his psychotic racist “lynching” meltdown

| 12:30 pm EDT October 22, 2019
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

Donald Trump woke up today and decided to claim that he’s the victim of a “lynching.” This guy is as ignorant as can be when it comes to American history and white privilege, but even he knows darn well what that word invokes. Considering the timing, it can’t be a coincidence. He’s trying to distract us from one of the most crucial days in the impeachment process to date.

In case you missed it, here is Trump’s racist, hideous tweet from this morning: “So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here – a lynching. But we will WIN!”

There are no words to properly express how inappropriate and hurtful it is for the President of the United States to compare his current impeachment struggle – which at worst could result in him being fired from his job for good reason – to the brutal, racist, deadly history of actual lynchings in this country. It would be wrong for anyone to say it. It’s infinitely more wrong for the president to say it. Throw in Trump’s consistent racist history, and the whole thing is mind boggling, if all too predictable. But it’s also apparently a calculated attempt at a distraction.

State Department official Bill Taylor, who was on the other end of the infamous “quid pro quo” text message exchange with Gordon Sondland, is testifying to the House impeachment inquiry behind closed doors today. Taylor’s testimony should really hurt Trump, and the details of it should start leaking out this evening. Now those details will have to fight for headline space with Trump’s “lynching” scandal.

Donald Trump knows what he’s doing when it comes to this sort of thing. The media will, and should, give significant coverage to condemning Trump’s psychotically racist claim that he’s the victim of a “lynching.” But it’ll result in Bill Taylor’s testimony getting less coverage. Trump is gambling that yet another round of headlines about him being a racist won’t hurt him, because everyone already knows he is one. This is all too disgusting for words. But Trump’s racist gambit won’t make Taylor’s testimony go away, and impeachment will proceed undaunted. Trump can’t manipulate his way out of his own downfall. It’s too late for that.