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You might wonder if Watters accidentally committed heresy in suggesting Trump’s rally performances might occasionally be less than politically perfect. But Watters avoided this pitfall by quickly adding that having fewer rallies denies the media “an opportunity to twist Trump’s words.” If the rallies ever create political problems, it’s only due to the Fake News media. By temporarily pausing them, the trial is owning the media, and the media doesn’t even know it.

Here in the real world, according to the Times, Trump is angry at Blanche, his lead lawyer in the case, because he isn’t more aggressively attacking witnesses, jurors, and the presiding judge. It’s likely that Trump—who in his own twisted way harbors powerful instincts about political theatrics—grasps that the trial is depicting him as a diminished, constrained, sordid figure who is not in charge of events, and badly wants his lawyer to do more to undermine the legitimacy of the proceedings.

That’s far from the fearsome, dominant figure depicted in MAGA propaganda about the trial. Note that both Watters and Pirro insist Trump is shining in the role of defendant. They are trying to depict Trump as simultaneously a victim and a formidable warrior, one who is fighting back against corrupt, powerful forces that are persecuting him. Similarly, as Media Matters’ Matt Gertz details, Fox figures praising Trump’s courtroom naps are practically painting them as acts of heroic defiance against an illegitimate prosecution.