Fired former Trump White House chief of staff Reince Priebus has revealed what the president’s main impeachment defense will be starting next week when he is tried for the high crimes and misdemeanors of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

“So what?”

That’s literally going to be the summation of all the allegations against a sitting president of the United States of America, the supposed leader of the free world.

“Sometimes the best defense is the ‘so what?’ defense. If everything the Democrats said is true, it’s still not impeachable. If everything Lev Parnas said is true, it’s still not impeachable. That’s what this is about,” Priebus, who Trump fired in 2017, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday night.

The shrug emoji comes to life…

Reince: “Sometimes the best defense is the ‘So what?’ defense. Which is: If everything the Democrats said is true, it’s still not impeachable. If everything that Lev Parnas said is true, it’s still not impeachable.”pic.twitter.com/E2yf5GPcYc

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 17, 2020

Of course, Priebus is wrong. Constitutional scholars and legal experts will have no problem refuting that argument.

Related: Internet Mocks Trump’s Choice to Have Pam Bondi, Alan Dershowitz, and Ken Starr Defend Him at Senate Impeachment Trial

Call it the 21st century version of disgraced President Richard M. Nixon’s infamous “Well when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

– Richard Nixon, May 19, 1977 pic.twitter.com/hwRSRlMgzp

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) December 4, 2017

(That is actually false. Illegal is illegal, regardless of whether or not the president is committing the crime, with very few exceptions – like disclosure of classified information.)

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent calls the new “so what?” defense “particularly ugly.”

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

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