FLASHBACK: CNN Contributor Called Benghazi Hearings 'High-Tech Lynching' of Hillary Clinton

How much more evidence do you need that the “outrage” over Trump’s tweet calling the impeachment hearings a “lynching” was bogus? I got more for you.

Back in 2015, CNN published an opinion piece by Sophie A. Nelson called, “Benghazi hearing: The high-tech lynching of Hillary Clinton,” where she used the apparently offensive word not just in the title of her piece, but in the body of the article as well.

And I can state unequivocally after watching Thursday’s Benghazi House committee hearing and considering the email transcripts, media statements, debates and intense partisan focus on the former secretary of state for the past few years that she has been treated unfairly. Unprofessionally. And frankly, disrespectfully.

I believe that like Justice Clarence Thomas before her, she has been publicly lynched in a way that we Americans only reserve for uppity black men and uppity professional women who don’t know their place. She has been dragged through the media and partisan mud of Capital Hill politics and asked to answer questions that she has already answered. She has been attacked. Accused. And berated by members of Congress who should know better.

(Screenshot of CNN.com)

If “lynching” is such an offensive word, can anyone explain why this got passed CNN’s editors? Are you convinced yet? Here’s one more. In October 2012, just over a month after the attacks in Benghazi, blogger Kevin Drum had a piece in Mother Jones titled, “The High-Tech Lynching of Susan Rice.” Drum makes a bizarre and inaccurate defense of Susan Rice, who repeatedly lied to the media about the Benghazi attacks and blamed her critics for daring to even question the false narrative being put out by the Obama administration. “It’s time to stop the lynching,” Drum wrote.

We’ve already found a number of Democrats, including Joe Biden, who described the Clinton impeachment as a “lynching,” and more examples of the word being used with impunity by the media or Democrats in years past are sure to be uncovered by people willing to take the time to do so. Is this really a game worth playing, or can we just admit that the outrage directed at Trump was phony and move on?

_____

Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis