What did Donald Trump do today?

He live-tweeted the Russia investigation hearings, only to have those tweets fact-checked by the FBI Director in real time while the hearing itself was still underway.

At 11:42 a.m., Trump made this tweet:

The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process. pic.twitter.com/d9HqkxYBt5

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017

Later in the hearing, Rep. Jim Hines (D-CT) read the tweet aloud and asked FBI Director James Comey if it was accurate. Comey acknowledged that the FBI had not investigated how much Russia's interference affected the outcome, and therefore had not told Congress or anyone else that Russia had no influence.

So what?

• Things do not become true just because a president very badly wants them to be true for political reasons.

• Saying something that is demonstrably false in the hope that it will drown out the truth is the definition of fake news.

• Asking people to ignore evidence in favor of politically favorable lies is what authoritarians do.