There is a long history of the meaning of the term "lynching." One of the sad ironies of this history is that Trump's use of the term has its roots in the anti-lynching movement's success in redefining lynching as an illegitimate form of violence 1/n The terms "lynching" and "lynched" likely date to the revolutionary war, where a judge with the surname "Lynch" meted out summary corporal punishment to Tories. I say "likely" because nobody is really sure what its origins are 2/n