For the record: “The United States engages in quid pro quos all the time when it comes to foreign assistance. Our aid is not charity; Americans expect to get something in return for it.” —Marc A. Thiessen

Cue the outrage machine: “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.” —Donald Trump

Double standards: “Impeachment is not ‘lynching,’ it is part of our Constitution. Our country has a dark, shameful history with lynching, and to even think about making this comparison is abhorrent. It’s despicable.” —Joe Biden, who subsequently said this when his latest example of hypocrisy (see below) was unmasked: “This wasn’t the right word to use and I’m sorry about that. Trump on the other hand chose his words deliberately today in his use of the word lynching and continues to stoke racial divides in this country daily.”

A trip down memory lane…

“Even if [Bill Clinton] should be impeached, history is going to question whether or not this was just a partisan lynching or whether or not it was something that in fact met the standard.” —Joe Biden, 1998

“We’re taking a step down the road to becoming a political lynch mob. … We are going to find a rope, find a tree, and ask a bunch of questions later.” —Rep. Jim McDermott, 1998

“In pushing the process, in pushing the arguments of fairness and due process, the Republicans so far have been running a lynch mob.” —Rep. Jerry Nadler, 1998

“The lynch mob … now has a new leader.” —Sen. Harry Reid, 1998

“It is a verbal political lynching on the floor of the Senate.” —Sen. John Kerry, 1998

And last… “Hypocrisy: Kamala Harris called the debunked Jussie Smollett hoax a ‘modern-day lynching.’ Jerry Nadler accused Republicans of running a ‘lynch mob’ against Bill Clinton. No one accused them of racism. There weren’t any Mainstream Media calls for their removal from office.” —Charlie Kirk