Trump’s Lawyers Want to Compare His Words to Those of Dems. They Already Screwed That Up.

David Schoen, counsel to former US President Donald Trump in the Senate on February 9, 2021.US Senate Tv Via Cnp/CNP via ZUMA Wir

Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.Aides to Democratic impeachment managers say that they are prepared for former President Trump’s lawyers, who will mount their defense today, to ignore the context of President Trump’s statements on January 6 and falsely compare his words to Democratic politicians who may also urged for backers to “fight.” Trump, of course, didn’t speak in a void. He had primed his supporters for violence by lying for months about the election results, urged them to march on the Capitol, and had good reason to anticipate telling his backers to “fight” to “stop the steal” would cause violence against Congress.
But a senior Democratic aide noted Friday that Democrats were surprised that one of Trump’s lawyers had admitted this week that Trump’s “comments to his followers are different than comments by Democrats.” The context matters.
“They’re using rhetoric that is just as inflammatory or more so,” David Schoen, one of Trump’s lawyers, told Sean Hannity on Fox News Tuesday. “The problem is, they don’t really have followers, you know, the dedicated followers…when they give their speeches.”

Trump impeachment attorney David Schoen says that Democrats have used “rhetoric that is just as inflammatory or more so” than Trump but “the problem is, they don’t have followers, dedicated followers when they give speeches.” pic.twitter.com/w5O2rg4qRS
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 10, 2021

Schoen there seemed to admit here that Trump’s words came in a far different context than speeches the lawyers may cite today. “Trump’s own lawyer [was] acknowledging that the circumstances are completely different, acknowledging Trump’s special connection to his followers who would do something” when he told them to, the aide said. Oops.