Thread by @PaulaChertok

Trump's legal case today will be short. Expect an onslaught of diversionary #whataboutism & false equivalence—the propaganda content from Foxnews & RW media maligning BLM racial justice protests w/ cherrypicked images of Black people yelling & buildings burning. #ImpeachmentTrial

Bigly gaslighting & whataboutism hits every agitprop point: Witch hunt, completely divorced from facts. No serious person could believe Trump incited insurrection. Nothing in the text could ever be construed… Russia didn't hack the election… Cancel culture! 🙄#ImpeachmentTrial

Schoen says Dems rely on rumors—Even on reporter @AndrewFeinberg who once worked for Sputnik! Then plays disinformation montage of people saying "reportedly". Says, Doubt the evidence b/c Ds manipulated video & tweets. But admits a tweet's wrong date was fixed. #ImpeachmentTrial

Schoen just finished arguing (falsely!) that Dems manipulated video in their evidence. Then shows several pure propaganda videos, collecting clips of Dems saying "reportedly," "impeachment," "fight." As if Dems' metaphorical language cancels Trump's incitement. #ImpeachmentTrial

The manipulated video is ridiculous. AND LONG. Democrats saying "fight" metaphorically is normal! Trump whipping up a mob to fight over a Big Lie is NOT. His mob literally fought! They brought weapons to fight—an insurrection for Trump. Now more whataboutism #ImpeachmentTrial

Trump's defense requires Americans watch basically Hannity or Pirro shows on FoxNews, assaulting viewers with the same toxic lies, disinformation, & propaganda that propped up Trump. That allowed him to develop a cult who'd commit violent insurrection for him. #ImpeachmentTrial

Trump lawyer literally gaslighting about whataboutism, says "This isn't whataboutism"

This perfectly timed subtweet begs to differ. 👇 lol

#ImpeachmentTrial

https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/1360291645586104320

Now the outrage is about the lawyer personally. Van der Veen says a letter from 141 law professors (arguing Trump's First Amendment defense is frivolous) "is a direct threat to my law license & my family's livelihood." He is ridiculous. Castor must be pleased. #ImpeachmentTrial

Van der Veen claimed "partisan law professors" aren't just wrong that his First Amendment argument is bogus but are intimidating him for political reasons. But Chuck Cooper—a conservative stalwart—said this First Am defense is not a serious argument. #ImpeachmentTrial

https://twitter.com/MikeScarcella/status/1360293961009659907

"oever and oever and oever" -- OH that Phlly "o" of Van der Veen's is intense.

Aand the "fight" clip again. Trump's lawyers keep showing the same clips over and over again. That's what propagandists do.

#ImpeachmentTrial

Van der Veen said Trump only wanted his supporters to push for election reform. How does marching on the Capitol achieve that? Reform is legislation. There's no evidence they wanted legislation. They wanted to STOP certification. And brought zip ties to do it. #ImpeachmentTrial

https://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield/status/1360301444922970112

.@NormEisen on Van der Veen claiming "small group hijacked" the protest: "We saw the huge mob surrounding the Capitol w/ our own eyes. This fringe distortion of reality, w/ those repetitive videos, will alienate the majority of Americans who know Trump's guilty. #ImpeachmentTrial

@NormEisen Castor: Trump couldn't be responsible for inciting Capitol violence b/c he is the most pro-police anti-mob rule president ever. Here's a propaganda video of Trump saying "law and order" to prove it.

Here we go again. Schumer yelling about Kavanaugh again.

#ImpeachmentTrial

@NormEisen Castor claims Trump was simply telling supporters to primary members of Congress, when he said fight. House managers manipulated Trump's words, he says. Gaslighting absurdly. Particularly after their spliced & diced propaganda videos played on a loop at this #ImpeachmentTrial

@NormEisen Castor states falsely that Trump's response was "immediate." Then claims the insurrectionists weren't paying attention to Trump's words. Uh, no. There's evidence the mob actually read his tweet attacking Pence at the Capitol before hunting the VP.

#ImpeachmentTrial

@NormEisen Castor is now gaslighting the semantics of the word "find" to try to argue he wasn't trying to get Georgia SOS to commit election fraud.

This painful, even for non-linguists.

#ImpeachmentTrial

@NormEisen Castor: "Once again, the media and their Democratic allies distorted the (Georgia) conversation. They are attempting to eliminate a political opponent. This is cancel culture by the majority."

Cue the "disqualify Trump" propaganda video loop.

And he's done.

#ImpeachmentTrial

@NormEisen Trump's defense:
—Trump says law & order a lot
—He said peaceful once
—Cancel culture is bad
—First Amendment lets him incite violence
—An insurrection can't be pre-planned
—Dems & media hate Trump
—Words mean whatever I want
—Trump wanted legislative reform 😹

#ImpeachmentTrial