Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, the first African American ever to hold the position, blasted both President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE’s comparison of the House’s impeachment inquiry to a lynching Tuesday and Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamLincoln Project mocks Lindsey Graham's fundraising lag with Sarah McLachlan-themed video The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Republicans lawmakers rebuke Trump on election Trump dumbfounds GOP with latest unforced error MORE’s (R-S.C.) defense of it.

“[T]his is a lynching," he tweeted, along with a photo of the lynching of George Meadows in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 1889.

ADVERTISEMENT

He continued, "Trump this is not happening to you and it’s pathetic that you act like you’re such a victim; but it did happen to 147 black people in your state Lindsey. ‘A lynching in every sense’? You should know better."

Meadows was accused by a mob of men of sexually assaulting a white woman who herself begged them not to kill him, saying she was unsure whether he was the perpetrator. The men repeatedly shot his body after hanging him, and distributed photos of his body.

@realDonaldTrump and @LindseyGrahamSC this is a lynching. Trump this is not happening to you and it’s pathetic that you act like you’re such a victim; but it did happen to 147 black people in your state Lindsey. “A lynching in every sense”? You should know better. pic.twitter.com/RQNQaOaLsd — Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) October 22, 2019

Numerous Democrats have condemned Trump’s tweet, including House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest-ranking African American in Congress, who said on CNN, “I'm a product of the South. I know the history of that word … That is a word that we ought to be very, very careful about using."

Graham, one of Trump’s most vocal defenders in the Senate, said earlier Tuesday morning that the impeachment inquiry was “a lynching in every sense."

“I think lynching is being seen as somebody taking the law in their own hands and out to get somebody for no good reason,” he said.