Trump lawyer was worse on TV than in the Senate -- which is saying something

If you thought Trump quasi-lawyer Michael van der Veen looked like an idiot in the U.S. Senate in the past two days -- ridiculed by dozens of U.S. senators howling with laughter -- you should have seen him afterwards on national TV. It was special.

In what had to be one of the more bizarre interviews of her career, respected CBS journalist Lana Zak endured more than seven minutes of scowling, venomous abuse from van deer Veen. He filibustered much of the interview with a raving assault on Zak's integrity and that of the media. Then he threw his microphone down and skulked off at the end.

But his big headline was this beauty:

"What happened at the Capitol on January 6 is absolutely horrific. But what happened at the Capitol during this trial was not too far away from that," van der Veen blurted out.

Take that in. Van der Veen, fresh off a 57-to 43-vote thumping that he strangely gets to claim as a win, had the indecency to liken his terrible experience to the Capitol insurrection. This was the same guy who angrily snapped "who asked that?" at Senator Bernie Sanders during the question-answer session Friday. Among many low points.

Apparently not aware the trial had ended, the "Philly-delphia" personal injury lawyer used his half-of-15-minutes of national TV infamy to slander the very House managers who had crushed him. He trotted out wildly false claim that they'd altered evidence.

Then, after Zak tried to ask for simple clarification, van der Veen attacked her as if she had thrown the banana peel that caused permanent injury to his latest slip-and-fall client back home. Apparently not accustomed to such low-rent interviewees, Zak mostly sat in stunned silence while the attorney ranted like a Proud Boy.

Among those stunned by the interview was former Senator Claire McCaskill, now an MSNBC analyst, who tweeted: "Ok this interview...umm...well how about van der Veen for Senate 2022! He would be the perfect Republican candidate in PA. Sooo likeable."

Internet sensation and former basketball star Rex Chapman weighed in: "Wish I could hug Lana Zak right now. She was just subjected to a chauvinist pig on national television for some seven minutes. Disgraceful. He mimics at one point. Is condescending. Throws his mic down. Storms off. He's Trump. A loser and sucker. The GOP supports THIS."

Van der Veen heads the amazing law firm that employs the inimitable Bruce Castor Jr., the man who earlier in the week delivered perhaps the worst opening statement in the history of American jurisprudence on behalf of Trump. Here's an assortment of the rave reviews van der Veen received from real lawyers today for his Impeachment Implosion:

From Lawrence Tribe:

From John O. Brennan:

And from Seth Abramson: