Trump promotes bizarre claim that 9/11 attackers were treated better than him

Donald Trump has promoted a strange claim that the House of Representatives gave him less due process during the impeachment inquiry than the 9/11 attackers received.

The US president embellished the quote from Fox News’ Mark Levin to also assert “this is a corrupt process” and added a false reaction from Republican senator Doug Collins, claiming he replied: “Very much so!”

Mr Collins did nod to indicate his agreement, however his raised eyebrows suggested some shock at Mr Levin’s comparing the president to those responsible for the most infamous terror attack in American history.

Mr Trump is currently on trial in the senate, accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He is the third US president to be impeached.

“I don’t believe this is ever happened before in American history,” Mr Levin claimed. “The president is denied due process. I’m not talking about the Bill of Rights, I’m talking about the due process past presidents have had… basic Magna Carta-type due process that people are supposed to get.

“The president gets less due process than the terrorists on 9/11 get. They get habeas corpus rights and all these other… the president gets no rights, no consideration. The Republicans, no rights. You just told me you couldn’t call a single witness.”

All of the 19 terrorists aboard planes died during the 9/11 attacks. Several others involved in planning the terror strike are serving life sentences or potentially facing the death penalty, with some suspects having been subjected to torture at Guantanamo Bay and CIA black sites. Several were detained for years without being formally charged.

While Mr Trump and Republicans have not been able to call witnesses during the impeachment inquiry, they were able to cross-examine the witnesses that were called.

The White House has also been able to block any of the documents and witnesses requested by Democrats, with Mr Trump notably saying he would use executive privilege to block former national security adviser John Bolton’s testimony.

It is not the first strange claim Mr Trump has made about 9/11.

The president has previously boasted that his building was the tallest in downtown Manhattan after the World Trade Centre was destroyed. He also claimed to have been a first responder despite also purporting to have seen thousands of Muslims celebrating the attack in New Jersey.

On Sunday, loyal Trump defender Lindsey Graham claimed Mr Trump’s biggest concern about the impeachment trial was that it posed a threat to the sanctity of the presidency.

“He thinks it’s a threat to the presidency,” Mr Graham told Fox News. “The one thing he talks to me constantly about is ‘what does the next president do after this, if it is successful?’ He does not want to legitimise attack[s] on the presidency.”

Meanwhile, Mr Trump was addressing the American Farm Bureau in Austin on Sunday, where he continued to rage against impeachment proceedings.

“We’re achieving what no administration has ever achieved before,” Mr Trump claimed. “And what do I get for it? I get impeached by these radical left lunatics.”