The defense team for former President Donald Trump used several video compilations Friday during the impeachment trial, and one included two clips of Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Tester of Montana.
Trump lawyer David Schoen presented the video to drill home their argument that some of the Democrats shown are jurors in the trial.
The clips of Tester included an MSNBC interview on July 18, 2019, where Tester says, “Donald Trump, I think you need to go back and punch him in the face”.
They also used a campaign ad from Tester’s 2018 run for Senate where he says he is “wired to fight." The nine-minute compilation of Democrats using the word “fight” was shown to rebut the charge that Trump incited the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Tester spokesperson Sarah Feldman gave this response:
"Senator Tester does not condone violence in any form and took responsibility for his choice of words. But let’s be clear, this is a desperate attempt at distracting Americans from the months-long drumbeat of truly dangerous rhetoric that culminated in a violent, deadly attack at our nation’s Capitol that came within a few hundred feet of destroying our democracy. This trial is not about Republicans or Democrats, it is about holding politicians accountable to our Constitution and the rule of law," she said in a written statement.
