What did Donald Trump do today?

He warned his supporters not to believe their ears.

Republicans in Congress have been extremely reluctant to defend Trump on the facts of the Ukraine disaster, largely because he's already admitted to the main charges against him. But they've been more willing to attack the process by which the Democratic majority has gathered evidence against Trump. For example, some—like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) have called for the release of the transcripts of depositions taken by various House committees. 

Massie is a member of the House Oversight Committee, and has been an eyewitness to the depositions. Trump retweeted Massie's call for the release of the transcripts today, but said not to believe what they said, and what Massie and dozens of other Republican members of Congress witnessed.

It's not the first time that Trump has warned people who he imagines are his supporters not to believe their own eyes and ears if something looks bad for him.

Why should I care about this?

• Demanding that your subjects ignore things that they know to be true, in order to prove their loyalty to you, is what authoritarians do.

• Not even the President of the United States can change reality just by pretending it didn't happen.

• The only reason to try this is because Trump knows the depositions will incriminate him.