Did Donald Trump explicitly use the word 'hang' or 'lynch' in any public speech or tweet?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows President Donald Trump did not originate the exact words “hang” or “lynch” in a recent speech transcript but he reposted and amplified social-media messages that explicitly called to “hang” Democratic lawmakers; he also used the word “lynching” as a metaphor in an earlier tweet during the 2019 impeachment fight [1] [2] [3]. Coverage is focused on Truth Social reposts and reactions from lawmakers and media rather than a line-for-line admission in a formal speech transcript [1] [4] [5].
1. What the record shows: reposting, not necessarily original phrasing
Multiple outlets report that Mr. Trump reshared posts on his Truth Social account that included the phrase “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!,” and news stories explicitly state he “shared” or “reposted” a call for Democrats to be hanged (The Independent, Democracy Docket, The Daily Beast, AFP/Le Monde synthesis) [1] [2] [6] [7]. These accounts describe amplification of a follower’s violent language rather than a direct, novel utterance of the word “hang” in a speech transcript that sources supply [1] [2].
2. Speech transcripts and formal addresses: no supplied transcript shows “hang” or “lynch” in that recent speech
A full transcript of Trump’s March 4, 2025, speech to Congress is available in reporting and archives; that public address’s published transcript in Time does not contain the words “hang” or “lynch” in the excerpts provided by the sources in this briefing [4]. Roll Call/Factba.se and other transcript repositories are listed among available records for public statements, but the search results here do not show a formal speech where he explicitly says “hang” in his own words [8] [9]. Available sources do not mention him saying “hang” in an on-the-record speech transcript supplied in the results.
3. Public posts where he used or amplified the words — Truth Social reporting
News outlets uniformly report that Trump’s recent social-media activity included a post saying the lawmakers’ behavior was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” and that he reshared a user post urging they be “HANG[ED],” which many outlets quote verbatim and attribute directly to Trump’s reposting or amplification [2] [10] [6]. The BBC and others note Trump later said he was “not threatening death” but that he had shared someone else’s post that read “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!” [5].
4. Historical use of “lynching” by Trump — an earlier, explicit tweet
Independent of the recent Truth Social episode, Trump has publicly used the word “lynching” in his own tweets before: in October 2019 he compared the impeachment inquiry to “a lynching,” a formulation widely reported at the time and cited in analysis of his rhetoric (AP/PBS reporting summarized here) [3]. That prior use demonstrates he has earlier invoked “lynching” explicitly as a metaphor for political processes [3].
5. How media and officials frame intent and responsibility
News organizations and congressional Democrats treated the Truth Social repost as effectively endorsing a call for violence; Senate and House Democrats and multiple outlets described the action as “calling for” or “sharing” calls to hang lawmakers and urged condemnation and security steps [11] [12] [13]. Other outlets report GOP figures expressing discomfort or trying to contextualize the posts, showing partisan disagreement about whether amplification equals an explicit threat from the president [14].
6. Limitations in the available reporting and what’s not found here
Available sources in this set do not include a complete archive of every Trump tweet, Truth Social post, or speech transcript; therefore, this analysis relies on the cited news reports and the Time speech transcript excerpt supplied in the results [4] [2]. The materials provided do not show an on-the-record, original spoken or written line in which Trump himself — as opposed to reposting another user — wrote the single-word imperative “hang” in a tweet or speech beyond the 2019 “lynching” tweet [3]. If you’re seeking a primary-source screenshot or the native Truth Social post record, those are not included among the supplied search results (available sources do not mention the native Truth Social post archive here).
7. Competing interpretations and political context
Critics — notably Democratic leaders and several news outlets — interpret Trump’s resharing of violent posts as equivalent to endorsing calls for execution and as dangerous rhetoric that can incite violence; they cite the reposted text verbatim to make that case [2] [11]. Defenders and some Republican officials either sought to downplay intent or to emphasize Trump’s later denials that he was “threatening death,” underscoring partisan disagreement over how to weigh amplification vs. origination [5] [14]. Analysts and outlets also point to Trump’s past rhetorical pattern of urging harsh punishments (“Lock them up”) and past metaphors invoking “lynching” in political contexts, which shapes how observers read later acts of amplification [3] [15].
Bottom line: reporting in these sources shows Trump explicitly used “lynching” himself in a high-profile 2019 tweet [3] and more recently amplified a follower’s post that said “HANG THEM…,” prompting widespread coverage and condemnation; the supplied speech transcript excerpt and other listed transcripts here do not show him originating the single-word call “hang” in a formal speech [4] [2].