WASHINGTON—Acknowledging the hurt he had caused, President Donald Trump apologized Tuesday for describing the House impeachment inquiry as a “lynching,” saying he had been unaware of the term’s association with the 1918 murder of Robert Prager, a German American immigrant killed by an angry mob. “I realize now my remark was insensitive, and insulting to the memory of Mr. Prager and those impacted by his tragic death,” said the president, who asked the American people to forgive him, emphasizing how disturbed he had been when a member of his staff told him how Prager had been singled out and killed by coal miners in Illinois during a wartime wave of anti-German sentiment. “Upon learning of this foul act, I have come to understand that lynching represents a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s past. Going forward, we must make a greater effort to reckon with this difficult part of our history, by which I mean specifically the terrible fate that befell an innocent German man on April 5, 1918. I am truly sorry for any pain my statement may have caused the German American community.” At press time, sources confirmed Trump’s base appeared satisfied with his apology and had no objections to a new tweet in which he compared the impeachment inquiry to “the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.”
