Thursday night brought a surreal split screen as the president railed against foes in Iowa while the sombre trial continued

Donald Trump turned his own trial into a punchline on Thursday as he held a campaign rally in Iowa ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, declaring: “We call this ‘impeachment-lite’.”

In an American presidency that has offered many split screens, few were more dramatic than the duality of the president flippantly whipping a crowd into a frenzy at a basketball arena while Chief Justice John Roberts oversaw the sombre impeachment trial in the Senate chamber.

“While we’re proudly creating jobs and killing terrorists, congressional Democrats are consumed with partisan rage and obsessed with a deranged witch-hunt hoax,” Trump said, eliciting boos and thumbs-down gestures from supporters in Des Moines. “We’re having probably the best years we’ve ever had in the history of our country – and I just got impeached!”

The president spread his arms wide in disbelief. “Can you believe these people? I got impeached. They impeached Trump! The best trade deals, the strongest military, I took care of the vets – we got choice, we got accountability for the vets, accountability! – we got all these things and they impeach the president.”

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He warned: “Now, that’s not going to work. Watch. Just watch. They want to nullify your ballots, poison our democracy and overthrow the entire system of government. That’s not happening, I can tell you that. Washington Democrats have spent the last three years trying to overturn the last election. Why am I not worried? I should be worried.”

Trump mused on the Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton impeachments. With elaborate hand movements, he said: “They say it was a very dark period. This is a happy period for us. Really.” The crowd erupted in applause, whistles and chants of “USA! USA! USA!”

Trump went on: “It’s a happy period because we call this ‘impeachment-lite’.” His supporters erupted in laughter.

The levity contrasted starkly with the mood a thousand miles away in Washington, where the impeachment trial ground on with senators’ questions. Roberts declined to read a question from Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky that attempted to make public the alleged name of a whistleblower who first drew attention to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

As the night wore on, Senator Lamar Alexander committed to blocking witnesses at the trial, meaning that Friday’s vote to do so is likely to fail – handing Trump a crucial reprieve. In an impassioned speech to the chamber, Adam Schiff, lead House impeachment manager, warned that the lessons of Watergate were being forgotten. “That is the normalisation of lawlessness,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Trump supporters cheer during a live feed outside the rally. Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP

But back in Des Moines, Trump took a swipe at the Democrat from California, jeering: “Crazy Schiff. Shifty Schiff. He’s a sick puppy. But you know what, today I hit my highest poll numbers since I got elected because the American people, and frankly, people all over the world, know it’s a hoax. They understand it. They know it’s a hoax.”

And previewing his all but certain acquittal by the Republican Senate majority under Mitch McConnell, Trump said: “And we have a great party, the Republican party. They know what’s going on. They know what’s going on and they’re going to treat us very fairly.

“But the Democrats are trying to overturn the last election. We will make sure they face another crushing defeat – right? – in 2020.”

The rally, which filled the Knapp Centre to its approximately 7,000 capacity, was also an apparent attempt to distract from Democratic campaign events happening across the state. (The Republican caucuses on Monday will not be competitive.)

Trump sought to contrast his record with the Democratic candidates. “If we don’t win, your farms are going to hell,” he said. “The Iowa unemployment rate has reached an all-time low in history. That’s not bad, that’s not bad. ‘Oh, let’s vote for Pocahontas, let’s vote for Bernie, let’s vote for Sleepy Joe – he’s fallen asleep.’

“How about But-Edge-Edge? They call him Mayor Pete. You know why? Nobody can pronounce his name.”

The Green New Deal, he warned, “would destroy our wonderful cows”. In a bizarre riff, he added: “They want to kill our cows. That means you’re next.”

Trump also resurfaced his racist rhetoric about illegal immigration, telling the approving crowd: “Many are fine people and all of that, but some of them are stone cold rapists and murderers and people their countries don’t want.”

Resting the case for his re-election, Trump said: “Look, you know: I can make the speech really short. All I have to do is say is, ‘Hello Iowa, you have no choice: you have to vote for me. Otherwise, everything that you’ve built in your entire life will be gone. Goodbye Iowa, have a good day.’ Instead, I work my ass off up here, OK?”

The crowd lapped it up. After Trump had left the stage and as people filtered out, Frank Sinatra’s My Way filled the emptying arena.