And he spoke now for forty-eight minutes.

It was a free association that recalled nothing so much as Donald Trump himself, but one without forward movement, energy, or applause lines. He seemed to look up to the Capitol Dome hoping the words would drop down—and in scattered, halting fashion, they did. Compliments to the Democrats, details of government remembered from childhood civics classes, sudden juxtaposed and pointless personal anecdotes.

The last time a body such as the United States Senate sat at the pinnacle of government with the responsibility that it has today, it was happening in Athens and it was happening in Rome. Republicanism, the form of government, republicanism, throughout history, has always and without exception, fallen because of fights from within. Because of partisanship from within. Because of bickering from within and in each one of those examples that I mentioned, and there are certainly others probably that are smaller countries that lasted for less time that I don’t know about off the top of my head, but each one of them, once there was the vacuum created that the greatest deliberative bodies, the Senate of Greece sitting in Athens, the Senate of Rome, the moment that they devolved into such partisanship, it’s not as though they ceased to exist. They ceased to exist as representative democracy. Both replaced by totalitarianism …

To quote Everett Dirksen, “The gallant men and women of the Senate will not allow that to happen. And this Republic will endure.” Because the top responsibility of a United States Senator and the top characteristic that you all have in common—and boy, this is a diverse group, but there isn’t a single one of you who (a), doesn’t consider yourself a patriot of the United States. And two, there, isn’t a single one of you who doesn’t consider the other ninety-nine to be patriots of the United States. And that is why this attack on the Constitution will not prevail. The document that is before you is flawed. The rule of the Senate concerning impeachment documents, Articles of Impeachment, Rule Twenty-three, says that, “Such documents cannot be divided.” You might’ve seen that we wrote that in the answer. It might’ve been a little legalistic or legalese for the newspapers to opine on very much, but there is some significance.

It was incomprehensible—and, worse, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Most offensively to the former president, watching from Palm Beach, Castor had fulsomely complimented the other side for its powerful presentation.

“What does he think he’s doing?” Trump demanded of one of the other lawyers. “He’s not lowering the temperature. He’s just making an ass out of himself. Get him off the goddamn TV. This is a disaster. What an idiot. We’re getting mocked. This is a disgrace,” he continued. “And what is that fucking mob suit he’s wearing? He looks like Al Capone!”