Trump Impeachment: Salem Mayor Criticizes President's Witch Trials Remarks, Says 'Learn Some History'

The mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, Democrat Kim Driscoll, slammed Trump's remarks that compared impeachment to the Salem witch trials in the 17th century, saying "learn some history."

Trump had claimed in a scathing letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday that the victims who were accused of being witches were given more due process than him during his impeachment.

"The situation is much different than the plight of the witch trial victims, who were convicted using spectral evidence + then brutally hanged or pressed to death," Driscoll tweeted Wednesday. "A dubious legal process that bears no relation to televised impeachment."

During the 1692 Salem witch trials, 20 innocent people were killed due to allegations that they had been practicing witchcraft, 19 people were hanged and one was crushed with rocks. The trials did not meet the principle of "innocent until proven guilty." The trial used "spectral evidence" which was from the dreams and the supernatural, along with eyewitnesses who claimed they saw the acts of witchcraft.

Driscoll said that Trump's impeachment features "ample evidence" and "admissions of wrongdoing," unlike the Salem witch trials.

The impeachment inquiry into Trump began on Sept. 24, after a whistleblower complaint that he asked for a favor from a foreign government. Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden. The act could be seen as encouraging a foreign actor to intervene in domestic elections.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives convened to debate and vote on the articles of impeachment against Trump, which are abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate trial will likely occur in January, where lawmakers will vote on whether to convict and remove the president.