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Trump comes under fire for comparing impeachment proceedings to a 'lynching'

A civil rights lawyer said the term is associated with public attacks on African-Americans down through US history.

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump on Tuesday likened the impeachment investigation against him to a ‘lynching,’ a racially charged word from the darkest days of America’s slavery legacy.

There was an immediate backlash to Trump’s tweet in which he claimed that impeachment was unfair and stripping him of his legal rights, although a senior Republican senator backed up the president.

“All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here — a lynching. But we will WIN!,” Trump tweeted.

Tweet by @Donald J. Trump Donald J. Trump / Twitter Donald J. Trump / Twitter / Twitter

Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said she was “sickened to see Trump’s gross misappropriation of this term today.”

Clarke said that 4,743 people were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968, of which 3,446 were African Americans.

“Lynchings were crimes against humanity and an ugly part of our nation’s history of racial violence,” she said.

“It’s beyond shameful to use the word ‘lynching’ to describe being held accountable for your actions,” said Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro.

Trump is being investigated for possible impeachment in the Democratic-led House of Representatives over his alleged abuse of office. He is counting on the Republican-dominated Senate to acquit him if the House does vote to impeach.

Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican, however, said he fully agreed with Trump’s complaint.

“Yes this is a lynching in every sense. This is un-American,” he told reporters.

Graham said that the impeachment probe failed to give Trump the ability to defend himself and is a “complete sham”.

“I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t live very long in the Senate,” he said.

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    Mute Trust The Chalice
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 10:52 PM

    It’s going to be gas when he gets away with this as well.

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    Mute M Co
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:00 PM

    @Trust The Chalice: Gets away with what? Using the wrong word.

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    Mute Nyantoon Chol
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 3:11 AM

    @M Co: been a see you next Tuesday…

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 9:50 AM

    @M Co: there are none so blind as those who cannot see.

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    Mute SteoG
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:53 PM

    @Trust The Chalice: Obama the slayer followed by Trump the betrayer. Betrayed every woman in his life. Betrayed and alienated his staff from day one. Betrayed the FBI. Betrayed the CIA. Betrayed his friend and lawyer Cohen. Betrayed all his business partners and employees. Betrayed the Kurds to the benefits of Daesh. Has constantly betrayed his country since he has taken up office to the benefits of the chief puppet master Vladimir. In fairness though he hasn’t betrayed the FSB yet. I wonder why?

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    Mute JD
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:34 AM

    @Trust The Chalice: Get away with what? Quick!! Call the word police!! I’m offended!!

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    Mute Sean O' Donovan
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:45 PM

    Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer is a type of inherited cancer syndrome associated with a genetic predisposition to different cancer types.
    The Jack Lynch Tunnel is an immersed tube tunnel and an integral part of the N40 southern ring road of Cork in Ireland.
    Lynch: Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Loingsigh ‘descendant of Loingseach’, a personal name meaning ‘mariner’.

    That’s enough Lynching for today.

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    Mute Devilsavocado
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:58 PM

    @Sean O’ Donovan: comment of the week!! :)

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    Mute LittleBee
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:00 AM

    @Sean O’ Donovan: ha ha ha I was wondering where you were going with that, it’s been a long day I clearly need sleep

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 1:20 AM

    @Devilsavocado: for 13 people….maybe!

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    Mute lambda sensor
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:03 AM

    I know very little about lynching but did some research on the back of this. Came across the Jesse Washington lynching in 1916 and am not the better for it. How anyone could use the term lynching to describe anything other than a brutal murder by an angry mob is just incredibly sad. America has tumbled under this reality TV president. The Chinese and Russians must be looking on with glee.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 1:22 AM

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says it’s best……

    “It is atrocious that the President would refer to one of the most horrifying, violent practices of white supremacists to pretend he is a victim of anything but his own actions.”

    That man outstupids himself…every singe day! Amazing!

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    Mute Jack Simpson
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 7:57 AM

    @Paul Furey: quoting a looney. Nice!

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    Mute JD
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:26 AM

    @Paul Furey: coming from a genius that’s on record for saying the world is going to end in 12 years.

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    Mute Lester Jeffcoat
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 10:51 PM

    L’homme d’orange est mauvais.

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    Mute GrahamMManning
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:12 PM

    Yup, Trumpys as persecuted as black people have historically been in the US. totally apt comparison.

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    Mute Mary Morrisey
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:38 PM

    @GrahamMManning: It would be incorrect to assign the term and the action to only one race in US history.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:49 PM

    @Mary Morrisey: 72.65% is fairly high to be fair.

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    Mute GrahamMManning
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:03 AM

    @Mary Morrisey: proportionately, in respect of lynching, it would not. But you stay classy trying to defend Trumpy on this one as well as all the others.

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    Mute Karl Charlie
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:39 AM

    The more he attacks these probes and impeachment the more guilty (guiltier didnt look like a real word) he looks

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    Mute Sequoia
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:59 PM

    This is a Cliff Clavin (Cheers) moment, but…

    Eh… there’s a widly supported theory that the term lynching is Irish in origin & may be derived from an event in 1493 when James Lynch FitzStephen, the mayor of Galway, strung up his own son from an upstairs window of his house for murdering a young Spanish house guest, who the young Lynch FitzStephen feared might become a rival for the attention of his girlfriend.

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    Mute Jack Simpson
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 8:30 AM

    I did not know that this word was only reserved for African-Americans who experienced lynching in the past and that use of the word in any other context was considered racism…. Race-baiting dims at it again.

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    Mute David
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 9:03 AM

    @Jack Simpson: the guy cant even sneeze without the media and irrelevant readers in other countries twisting it.

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    Mute Tom Doyle
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 9:40 AM

    @Jack Simpson:Remember when Trump tried to lynch those 5 innocent black teenagers ? I do

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    Mute JD
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:31 AM

    @David: It would insult some snowflake somewhere I’m sure.

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    Mute Dave Harris
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:17 AM

    If you cant do the time Trump, dont do the crime. (In other words, stop wingeing like a spoilt child Trump)

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    Mute Jack Simpson
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 7:56 AM

    @Dave Harris: what crime? There have only been alleged crimes.

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 9:52 AM

    @Jack Simpson: if it walks like a duck…….

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    Oct 23rd 2019, 6:46 PM

    @Terry Cahill: No evidence needed in that case!

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    Mute WoodlandBard
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 2:44 AM

    Trump being lynched, Boris being ditched, almost a bit of a poem forming.

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    Mute Tim Pot
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 6:21 AM

    Did not the republicans not attempt to impeach Bill Clinton? Short memory i guess.

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    Mute Jack Simpson
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 7:54 AM

    @Tim Pot: Bill Clinton committed federal crimes. Big difference.

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    Mute Tom Doyle
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 9:37 AM

    @Jack Simpson: What federal crimes were those,kiddo ?

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    Mute SteoG
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 9:59 AM

    @Jack Simpson: Trump has committed treason. A much greater crime. Putin’s sock puppet has done everything asked by Vladimir. He even supported Putin over the CIA. A treacherous act committed in pube. When did another US president do such a thing? Never . He is the greatest US traitor since the Rosenbergs and they got to ride old sparky.

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    Mute Mark Fields
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 10:14 AM
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    Mute SteoG
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 10:15 AM

    @SteoG: public not pube. .

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    Mute Will
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 11:29 AM

    @SteoG: “Trump has committed treason”

    It’s easy to make statements but you’ll have to back them up with evidence. How exactly did he support Putin and in what way was it treasonous?

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    Mute SteoG
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:00 PM

    @Will: One example is publicly taking up the side of Putin over the CIA. Hosting members of the Russian kleptocracy in the Oval Office and allowing their unsecured electronic devices. Track his money and investors Russian oligarchs who use him as a dirty money laundry. Plenty of evidence. Dr Timothy Snyder is a highly regarded historian who specialises in Russia and Eastern Europe. His recent work The Road to Unfreedom outlines plenty more evidence including sources
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/15/the-road-to-unfreedom-russia-europe-america-timothy-snyder-review-tim-adams

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    Mute Will
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 4:23 PM

    @SteoG: You are making grand statements but that’s about it. I don’t see any solid evidence of treason.
    If the evidence is out there and available to everyone why have the Democrats not started an official impeachment process?

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    Mute SteoG
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 5:42 PM

    @Will: The USA is weak on treachery since the Rosenbergs. If a Russian citizen cooperated with any Western agency to the same degree they would be bathed in novichok or served polonium tea as you well know.
    The evidence of treachery is clear, it is impeccable. The fact that you refuse it does not negate it. Timothy Snyders book presents and provides impeccable sources. What the cowardly Democrats do is neither here nor there. Russian state security and its Internet warriors are out in force spreading denials. I am sure that you and your fellow colleagues would like your chief asset to continue the good work.

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    Mute Jack Simpson
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 6:50 PM

    @SteoG: You’ve been watching too many James Bond movies. The way you’re going on you’d think Putin resides under a volcano, plotting to destroy the world.

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    Mute SteoG
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 7:40 PM

    @Jack Simpson: No I don’t. I can just as easily assert that you’re watching too much RT. He is a lying authoritarian kleptocrat not a reasonable person. He has been doing everything in his power to destabilise and interfere with anybody he deems an enemy. The way your going on you’d think he is your employer.

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    Mute Will
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 11:19 AM

    The Democrats had no problems referring to Clinton’s impeachment as a lynching back in 1998 and the media reported it without anybody losing their tiny minds.
    As crass and insufferable as Trump is it’s sad to see the Democrats and the media collectively lose any sense of perspective due to their hatred of the man.
    If they played a straight game they’d have a much better chance of getting rid of him.

    .

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    Mute Paraic
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:10 PM

    So, should he be lynched then?

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    Mute GrahamMManning
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:12 PM

    @Paraic: eh, no. Why would you ask that?

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    Mute Juan Fangio
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:37 PM

    @Paraic: No, of course not, just impeached.

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    Mute Paraic
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    Oct 22nd 2019, 11:45 PM

    @GrahamMManning: If he thinks it’s the same as impeachment…

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    Oct 23rd 2019, 12:06 AM

    @Paraic: ah ok. Fair nuff but still no.

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    Oct 23rd 2019, 7:49 AM
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    Mute Damien Kearns
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 1:16 AM

    String him up

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    Mute Alan McArdle
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 1:27 AM

    @Damien Kearns: except he loves comments like that. I’m no DT fan but Clarke is OTT here. The phrase ‘lynch mob’ is frequently used without racial intent.

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    Mute Nyantoon Chol
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 3:13 AM

    @Alan McArdle: not in America.

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    Oct 23rd 2019, 6:19 AM

    @Nyantoon Chol: That is the part that some people are clearly struggling on,.

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    Mute lambda sensor
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 7:12 AM

    @Alan McArdle: whether he meant the racial undertones or not, its STILL a stupid comparison. This guy’s persecution complex is unreal! Congress is following a constitutional process. Lynch mobs are angry, murderous mobs intent on extracting their own vicious justice. No comparison. Period.

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 9:54 AM

    @Nyantoon Chol: absolutely !

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    Mute Will
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 11:24 AM

    @lambda sensor: “Congress is following a constitutional process”

    Congress is not following any kind of constitutional procedure here. The house has not voted on impeachment therefore the current behind closed doors inquiries amount to little more then a Democrat publicity stunt and is in fact a kangaroo court (without any judicial power).
    If they were so sure of their position on impeachment they would hold a proper vote and the process would be conducted out in the open.

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    Mute Alan McArdle
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 10:53 PM

    @lambda sensor: cool the jets there, pal. He hasn’t the brains to realise the undertones of what he says but to jump on it and blowing it up to something that likely wasn’t intended does his opponents no favours

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    Mute Aaron Jones
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 5:40 AM

    Draining the swamp as trump put it, Is coming back to bite him in the ass!

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    Mute SteoG
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 3:51 PM

    @Aaron Jones: He is the swamp.

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    Mute kenneth clohessy
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    Oct 23rd 2019, 6:36 PM

    Croc o shite

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