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Civil War, Ed Henry, and Someone Named 'Joe': Trump's Wild Sunday on Twitter

In one of his 40-odd tweets of the day, he warned of "Civil War-like fracture" if he's impeached, quoting a Southern Baptist preacher with a history of anti-Semitic and anti-Islam remarks.
President Donald Trump speaks at the Hispanic Heritage Month Reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)​

President Donald Trump ended a whirlwind Sunday on Twitter by claiming that his impeachment could cause “a Civil War-like fracture” in the country.

Trump said in his 40th-or-so tweet of the day that “if the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.”

He was quoting his ardent supporter Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist preacher who has previously said he believes all Jews are going to hell and called Islam a “false religion.”

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Many criticized Trump’s comment, including Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who served in Iraq and is a pilot in the Air National Guard. He labeled the president's claim as “beyond repugnant.”

“I have visited nations ravaged by civil war. I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a President. This is beyond repugnant,” Kinzinger tweeted.

Many others on Twitter asked the company whether the tweet violated the company’s policies on inciting violence.

The leader of the heavily-armed far-right Oath Keepers militia embraced Trump’s “civil war” comment in a series of tweets on Monday morning.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from VICE News.

READ: The GOP Is Now Saying the Whistleblower Is Totally 'Not a Whistleblower'

Trump is under increasing scrutiny after a government whistleblower complained about Trump’s effort to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son in return for military aid. Last week the Democrats announced a formal impeachment inquiry into the president’s conduct.

Trump was quoting Jeffress after he appeared on Fox News on Sunday and it appears that Trump spent a large portion of his Sunday sitting in front of his television and tweeting.

Another altercation on Fox News, between Fox News hosts Ed Henry and conservative radio personality Mark Levin, appeared to excite the president the most, with Trump commenting on an on-screen argument between the pair 22 times.

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All of Trump’s tweets were pro-Levin, who was defending his call to the Ukrainian president, or anti-Henry, who was asking if it was OK for Trump to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival.

He retweeted someone named “Joe” who said that Henry got his “ass handed to him” by Levin. He retweeted another person who said, “Mark Levin sure put that lying shit head Ed Henry in his place didn’t he?”

READ: Here Are 7 Crimes Trump Might Have Committed in This Ukraine Scandal

Trump also took time during his Sunday Twitter tirade — which included more than 40 tweets — to offer to meet the whistleblower who sparked the current Ukraine scandal; said that House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff should be investigated for treason; and mentioned a State Department probe into Hillary Clinton’s “deleted and acid-washed” emails.

He also found time to wish his Jewish followers a happy Rosh Hashanah.

Cover: President Donald Trump speaks at the Hispanic Heritage Month Reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)