Thursday's impeachment proceedings included a video montage of multiple Republicans condemning the violence at the Capitol and calling on Trump to get his supporters to stop. Another video segment showed the rioters bragging about carrying out Trump's will as they stormed the Capitol. 

Sen. Tommy Tubberville (R-AL) said that he told Trump about former Vice President Mike Pence being evacuated from the Capitol when the president called him during the riot, sparking new criticism about Trump's tweet putting Pence in danger.

House Lead Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) drew on his skills as a former constitutional law professor to torpedo the attempt by Trump's attorney to assert a free speech defense. 

It was a compelling and logical argument.

However, as Mediaite founder Dan Abrams pointed out, all of this probably won't matter because the Senators are "making a political decision," not a legal or logical one. 

Trump's defense got their turn Friday, and spent some time attacking the Democrats' argument for relying on "reported" news items. Lawyer Bruce Castor "said the quiet part out loud," as Mediaite's Leia Idliby wrote, making sure to mention to the GOP senators in the audience that no one wanted a primary challenge.

Team Trump had a bit more trouble when asked about Trump's actions during the riot. And they got slammed for claiming Trump didn't know Pence was in danger. Their montage of Democrats and celebrities saying allegedly inflammatory things got a lot of mocking on social media. 

Watch the proceedings live here.

And get all of Mediaite's coverage, including highlights, video and analysis, throughout the day here.

All the hot takes

Peggy Noonan wrote a scathing Wall Street Journal op-ed, arguing that "those who acquit are voting for a lie."

CNN's Anderson Cooper called out GOP Senators who met with Trump's legal team after Thursday's proceedings. "The fix is likely in," Cooper said. 

CNN's Abby Phillips questioned the Trump defense team bringing up the Georgia call between Trump and Raffensperger, calling it a "baffling" decision. Fox News' Chris Wallace also criticized their tactics, calling their argument "silly" and "insulting half the jury."

A top Missouri paper shredded the state's two Republican senators, Sen. Josh Hawley and Sen. Roy Blunt, for their likely votes to acquit Trump, calling them an "embarrassment" to the state.

Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson complained about the "deafening" criticism of his show and Fox News.

Worse than previously reported

A new report by the New York Times claims that Trump was sicker from Covid-19 than he had previously admitted, with dangerously low blood oxygen levels that almost required him to be put on a ventilator. 

Cuomo in hot water

A top aide for Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) admitted that they basically covered up data regarding nursing home deaths from Covid-19 because they were worried about being investigated by the Trump DOJ. New York Democrats are hopping mad -- along with New Yorkers of all political stripes who lost loved ones from the virus. 

Good news about vaccines

President Joe Biden announced on Thursday an accelerated production of Covid-19 vaccine doses that should allow every American to be vaccinated by the end of July.

Good news for Biden

A CNBC poll showed that Biden has earned higher approval ratings regarding the economy than either Trump or former President Barack Obama. 

Brain bleach, please 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) might have said a lot of controversial things, but you can't deny her talent for getting her name in headlines. This particular one is pretty dang weird, and we'll just say probably best not to open if you have children around. However, if you're curious why "tantric sex guru" was trending on Twitter yesterday, Mediaite's Caleb Howe has the story here.

Rudy's not-so-common-sense

Rudy Giuliani complained on his radio program that he hoped that Trump's impeachment attorneys were "competent," but he defined competent as being willing to promote the baseless conspiracy theories he said he had on his website.

It turns out we couldn't find any of that "evidence" Giuliani claimed he had posted, but Trump's attorneys did in fact make a similar sort of argument, claiming Antifa was responsible for the Capitol riot. 

A little palate cleanser 

There are a lot of stressful stories on the news lately, so here's just a nice little moment with Biden affectionately talking about his "love affair" with Dr. Jill Biden, his dogs Champ and Major, and the Valentine's decorations the First Lady put up at the White House. There's even a fun bit where Biden gives his coffee to a reporter.

Dogs, Valentines, caffeine. Sounds like a nice way to spend an afternoon.