The U.S. Senate impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump continued Friday, and Trump’s lead counsel Bruce Castor again got attention for an odd comment. Earlier this week, Castor made a lot of widely-discussed remarks, such as first referring to himself as “lead prosecutor” rather than “lead counsel” and engaging in a wild discussion of hearsay. On Friday, he made a factual error, saying that Trump’s Jan. 5 call to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger was instead to “Georgia secretary of state Ben Roethlisberger.” Roethlisberger, of course, is the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"Georgia Secretary of State Ben Roethlisberger" pic.twitter.com/8CqLqvkB9a
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) February 12, 2021
“Let’s touch now on the second absurd and conflated allegation in the House managers’ single article. President Trump’s phone call to Georgia secretary of state Ben Roethlisberger, surreptitiously recorded…”
As MSNBC’s Brian Williams noted, this wasn’t the only mistake Castor made Friday:
"He didn't mean big Ben Roethlisberger. He meant [Brad] Raffensperger in Georgia," Brian Williams says of Trump defense team. pic.twitter.com/oY9rBaAq9n
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 12, 2021
And yes, social media did in fact, as Williams stated, “have a good ol’ time” with this one. Some highlights:
Sure, Tom Brady has won a few championships, but has he ever been snap elected as Georgia's Secretary of State like Ben Roethlisberger has? Checkmate!
— Adam (@ColorFilledMind) February 12, 2021
So, I learned today that Ben Roethlisberger has left the Pittsburgh Steelers to become a Georgia Election Official! #ImpeachmentTrial pic.twitter.com/L2NCENFOhB
— Kirsten Hancock (@KirstenLHancock) February 12, 2021
Ben Roethlisberger has been very busy and that explains the Steelers season.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) February 12, 2021
Perhaps Ben Roethlisberger will, in revenge, start publicly referring to Bruce Castor as “Fidel Castro."
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) February 12, 2021
If Roethlisberger is a secretary of state now, perhaps that explains the one vote he got as NFL Comeback Player of the Year. (The other 49 logically went to Alex Smith after his return from a horrific 2018 leg injury.)
[Jacob Rubashkin on Twitter]
