This one takes a few seconds to set up but it’s worth it! So, right-wing social media users have been circulating doctored videos of Nancy Pelosi, who is in their targets right now because she 1) said the president was engaging in a “cover-up” by refusing to honor congressional oversight requests and 2) described him as having a “temper tantrum” who needs “an intervention” when he subsequently declared that he won’t speak to congressional Democrats until they end all of the investigations into his conduct. In an echo of bogus accusations against Hillary Clinton that were made in 2016, the videos of Pelosi that are going around have been altered to make her seem drunk/senile.

On Thursday, Rudy Giuliani, one of the president’s lawyers, shared one of the videos on Twitter, writing “What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi? Her speech pattern is bizarre.” Later, he deleted the video, but didn’t quite apologize for it, unless you consider this an apology:

ivesssapology for a video which is allegedly is a caricature of an otherwise halting speech pattern, she should first stop, and apologize for, saying the President needs an “intervention.” Are pic.twitter.com/ZpEO7iRzV8 — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) May 24, 2019

Apparently this is what it was supposed to say:

Nancy Pelosi wants an apology for a caricature exaggerating her already halting speech pattern. First she should withdraw her charge which hurts our entire nation when she says the President needs an “intervention. “People who live in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones.” — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) May 24, 2019

Still some grammatical and proofreading errors in there, although not as many as there were in the first one! Third time’s the charm?

21st-century American public discourse. There’s truly been nothing like it before.