One of the Last Trump-Affiliated Twitter Accounts Compares Impeachment to Dictatorships

As Donald Trump's second impeachment trial kicked off Tuesday, one of the only remaining Twitter accounts associated with the former president and his aides compared the proceedings to what happens in dictatorships.

A tweet from the "Trump War Room" account on Tuesday said the trial is the sort of thing that occurs in a "banana republics" and "third world dictatorships," while slamming Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is presiding over the trial in his role as president pro tempore of the Senate.

"Imagine having a 'trial' where the 'judge' had already voted to convict the defendant?" the account wrote about Leahy on Tuesday.

"That's what happens in banana republics, third world dictatorships and now the United States Senate. SAD!"

The "Trump War Room" account was previously used by the Trump reelection campaign's rapid response team. It remains one of the only Trump-affiliated accounts still accessible on Twitter, since the social media platform moved to expel the former president and his main campaign page after the January 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters.

The account also retweeted a number of statements from Republican lawmakers who have called the impeachment trial unconstitutional, including Representatives Jim Jordan and Andy Biggs, as well as Senator John Kennedy.

Additionally, on par with strategies that will likely be used by Trump's impeachment lawyers this week, the account tweeted a video accusing Democratic Representative Maxine Waters of using "violent rhetoric" against Trump supporters.

"What Democrats didn't show you today," the account said, along with video footage meant to showcase that Democrats have previously called for incendiary rhetoric against Republicans.

The video of Waters was tweeted in response to an emotional 13-minute video montage that House impeachment managers used on Tuesday to recount the events of the January 6 riot.

The impeachment trial opened with the video, which included footage of violence interspersed with Trump's 70-minute speech before the riot, in which he encouraged his supporters to "walk down to the Capitol" and "stop the steal."

"You ask what a high crime and misdemeanor is under our Constitution. That's a high crime and misdemeanor," lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said after showing the video. "If that's not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing."

Trump was impeached by the House and charged with "incitement of insurrection" on January 13, one week after the Capitol assault. Ten Republicans joined the Democrats in the vote, making Trump the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.

"The most unprecedented element of this second [Trump] impeachment is that it results from the one and only time a U.S. president has engaged in insurrection and an attempted coup against our own country," Barbara Perry, a professor and director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, previously told Newsweek.

On Tuesday, the Senate convened for a four-hour-long debate on the constitutionality of impeaching the ex-president after his departure from office. If a majority of Senators vote in favor of the impeachment trial, the proceedings will continue, with 16 hours of debate from both the House impeachment managers and Trump's defense lawyers.

Newsweek contacted Trump's press team for additional comment but did not hear back in time for publication.