University lecturer under fire for 'Trump must hang' tweet

FRESNO, California -- A Fresno State faculty member has come under fire from several right-leaning publications, most notably Breitbart News, for a tweet directed at President Donald Trump in which he states, "To save American democracy, Trump must hang."

The February 17 tweet from American History lecturer Lars Maischak was quoted by far-right political website Breitbart News, which featured the headline "Fresno State Lecturer: 'Trump Must Hang' to Save Democracy" on its homepage Saturday.

Maischak's Twitter feed contains a series of other politically-charged comments directed at conservatives and President Trump, however Fresno State president Joseph I. Castro says Maischak's views do not reflect the university, saying:

"Statements on his social media accounts are his alone and do not reflect the position of the University."

Maischak declined an on-camera interview. However, he countered that Breitbart took his tweets out of context and says he does not condone violence.

When asked what the intent of his message was, he directed Action News to another statement that read:

"At the moment, based on my conviction that a majority of Americans are committed to Democracy, it, therefore, follows that 'Trump must hang...,' with the word 'must,' expressing a logical necessity rather than a demand or wish."

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