Ex-President Donald Trump doesn’t appear to have taken kindly to the attempted defense that his legal team launched in the Senate on Tuesday as the ex-president’s impeachment trial proceedings got underway. In particular, Trump lawyer Bruce Castor offered a rambling and at times nearly incomprehensible diatribe to the Senators in which he, among other things, praised the way that the late Senator Everett Dirksen sounded; spoke nostalgically about record players — which are still a thing, it’s worth noting; called the state of Nebraska a “judicial thinking place;” and told Senators how great that he thinks they are.
According to CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, who is the network’s current chief White House correspondent, “multiple” sources said that Trump was “basically screaming” while apparently watching Castor’s opening argument. Collins reported as follows:
‘Multiple people tell me Trump was basically screaming as Castor made a meandering opening argument that struggled to get at the heart of the defense team’s argument.’
Multiple people tell me Trump was basically screaming as Castor made a meandering opening argument that struggled to get at the heart of the defense team's argument.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 9, 2021
Characterizing Castor’s remarks as a struggle might be a generous understatement. After the proceedings, a number of Republican Senators — including figures on the ex-president’s own side — derided what happened. John Cornyn from Texas said that he “thought the President’s lawyer, the first lawyer, just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument,” while Ted Cruz from Texas said that he doesn’t “think the lawyers did the most effective job.” Cornyn and Cruz are both on the ex-president’s side.
“I don't think the lawyers did the most effective job," said Sen. Ted Cruz to @karoun when asked about Trump's lawyers. He added that Rep. Jamie Raskin was "impressive" and a "serious lawyer."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2021
Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who could be seen as a potential vote for conviction, said that she “was really stunned at the first attorney who presented for former President Trump,” adding that she “couldn’t figure out where he was going.” Susan Collins of Maine, who occupies a similar ideological space as Murkowski, added that she “was perplexed by the first attorney, who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take.” Alongside four other Republican Senators, both Murkowski and Collins voted in favor of moving forward with the trial proceedings on Tuesday. A full 44 Republican Senators voted against moving forward at all.
“I was perplexed by the first attorney, who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take,” Susan Collins told @tedbarrettcnn.
Asked about Castor calling out Sasse and Toomey specifically, Collins said, "I thought that was inappropriate."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2021
Trump, of course, no longer has a Twitter account, so his direct thoughts about Castor’s spectacle are less accessible than they might be under different circumstances.
