Donald Trump is quite fond of calling the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt.” It doesn’t track at all if you know the history of actual “witch hunts,” or how honest-to-God witches have been targeted and discriminated against throughout history. The term “witch hunt” is obviously a more modern invention, meant as a shorthand for “an investigation into someone completely harmless/innocent.” That obviously does not describe Donald Trump. Anyway, the Daily Beast has a new piece about how actual witches feel about Trump’s near-constant claims that the multiple investigations are all part of a witch hunt:

It may, on the surface, seem like a harmless way to trivialize Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. But to the actual community of witches, President Donald Trump’s constant invocation of a so-called “witch hunt” is deeply problematic and, frankly, a bit hurtful.

“Many are mad, and the rest are rolling their eyes,” said David Salisbury, a lead organizer at Washington-based witch community Firefly House. Witches are not a constituency with which politicians normally concern themselves. And there’s little sense in the community that Trump actually cares about what they truly think. But for those who practice witchcraft, the president’s words bring up a painful period in history, when men and women were accused of being witches and murdered, both in the American colonies and in Europe.

On Twitter, Trump has called the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt” more than 60 times, including four times on Sunday alone. Trump’s supporters have adopted the nomenclature as well, with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich saying Friday that the Mueller investigation is both a witch hunt and a modern return of the inquisition. Witches view the use of the phrase as more than just a pejorative rhetorical device. They place it, rather, in the larger context of the president demonizing and marginalizing minority groups. According to witches who spoke to The Daily Beast, most contemporary witches are feminists and support other marginalized groups. Salisbury called Trump’s witch hunt tweets “disgraceful,” especially because of Trump’s attacks on immigrants and women.

“It is particularly horrifying because many modern practitioners of witchcraft devote their lives to seeking compassion and justice,” Salisbury said.

[From The Daily Beast]

The witches/warlocks quoted go on to say that while witches have been casting spells on Trump and Brett Kavanaugh, “most witches have opted not to use magic against Trump. I don’t think we need to attack Trump with spells. He’s in the middle of a process of self-destruction. Trump is safe from any ‘witch hunt’ because no self-respecting coven would have him.” Sometimes I do wish I belonged to a coven – it might be soothing, to cast spells on the Trumps, or really try to hex him. I’d hex the f–k out of Ivanka too.

Here’s one of the “witch hunt” tweets from Trump just this weekend. He tweets about “witch hunts” more than he tweets about anything else at this point.

….The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax, started as the “insurance policy” long before I even got elected, is very bad for our Country. They are Entrapping people for misstatements, lies or unrelated things that took place many years ago. Nothing to do with Collusion. A Democrat Scam!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.