Today, if Johnson bothers to show up for the impeachment trial, he’ll hear a flimsy defense of the indefensible. Then he faces an existential, character-defining choice: Country and Constitution, or party and personal power. We have a guess. But first, let’s review some clues.
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Sen. Ron Johnson's defense of Trump is, What about Hillary?
— Michael McAuliff (@mmcauliff) February 10, 2021
"One thing that's definitely being left out.. and I think is going through all Republicans' minds is, but what about Hillary Clinton, saying and telling Joe Biden never concede."
via @LisaDNews
Reporter: "Senator, have you congratulated Vice President Biden yet?"
— The Hill (@thehill) November 10, 2020
Sen. Ron Johnson: "No."
Reporter: "Why not?"
Johnson: "Nothing to congratulate him about." pic.twitter.com/Is7APE2frx
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'If we buy this radical argument that Pres. Trump\u2019s lawyers advance, we risk allowing January 6 to become our future\u2019 \u2014 Listen to Rep. Jamie Raskin\u2019s opening statement to begin Trump\u2019s second impeachment trial pic.twitter.com/mkqaumQwaZ
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 11, 2021
Chip in to help us do it: https://t.co/hr8sJFWiza
President\u2019s lawyers blew the House Manager\u2019s case out of the water. Legally eviscerated them.
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) February 12, 2021
More from Government
The Manatee GOP expressed support for Josh Hawley’s objections to certification of the electoral college vote. /2

Josh Hawley’s home-state newspaper says Hawley has blood on his hands for a “Capitol coup attempt.” This is who the Manatee GOP cheered on.
Florida GOP Vice Chair & Sarasota County Commissioner Christian Ziegler was at the protest, as described in this @HeraldTribune article.
The protest was led by the same people connected to Ziegler who were filming outside the Vern Buchanan town hall at the Van Wezel in Sarasota in 2017, namely Dustin Stockton. Stockton was also part of Steve Bannon's border wall group. /5
https://t.co/NbOxVqbtO4

Cannon
44
....heard around the world
NG - High Alert https://t.co/lfeSiUCCRB

\U0001f4a5 BOOM \U0001f4a5
— R\u0113d.P\u012bll.Ph\u0101rm\u0101c\u012bst (@Red_Pill_Pharma) January 18, 2021
30 secs in - what do I hear?
\u2018Peaceful transition to military power\u2019
\U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8 MILITARY IS THE ONLY WAY \U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8 pic.twitter.com/9NPMT7N7Qy
We Will Never Forget
44
Stage is set
https://t.co/h6G3LCevII

The stage is set. Staged.
— JeLove (@LovesTheLight) November 7, 2020
Where? (the) Delaware.
10:44
Purple
First graphic in 98https://t.co/PKHlxp0rzS pic.twitter.com/XCx6pVQTHx
Following the 44 trail of breadrumbs
https://t.co/PcX0uKUEUW

Boom, Boom, Boom pic.twitter.com/ZcZXAgL0Qf
— JeLove (@LovesTheLight) August 13, 2020
The tl;dr is that for years right-wing media have been excusing Trump's violent rhetoric by going, "Yes, but THE DEMOCRATS..." and then bending themselves into knots to pretend that Dems were calling for violence when they very, very clearly weren't.
And in fact, this predates Trump.
In 2008, Obama was talking about not backing down in the face of an ugly campaign. He said "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun."
https://t.co/i5YaQJsKop

That quote was from the movie The Untouchables. And there's no way anybody reading that quote in good faith could conclude that he was talking about actual guns and knives. But it became a big talking point on the
In 2018, Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder was speaking to a group of Georgia Democrats about GOP voter suppression. He riffed on Michelle Obama's "When they go low, we go high" line from the 2016 DNC.