Trump impeachment trial live updates: Biden says charge 'not in dispute' in 1st comments on acquittal

During the trial recess, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., blasted Trump's defense team for playing selective, mashup videos of Democrats telling supporters to "fight," accusing the attorneys of "trying to draw a false, dangerous and distorted equivalence."

"I think it is plainly a distraction from Donald Trump inviting the mob to Washington, knowing it was armed, changing the route and the timing so as to incite them to march on the Capitol and then reveling, without remorse, without doing anything to protect his own vice president and all of us," Blumenthal said.

"I think that the case is even more powerful after this very distorted talk," he added.

-ABC News' Trish Turner

During the recess, ABC News Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran noted that "the table's turned" during Trump's defense presentation.

"It is really what our partisan politics are all about right now," Moran said. "It is less about what you believe than who you hate."

As a part of the defense, Trump's lawyers showed clips of videos of Democrats using fighting language during their own political speeches, drawing a comparison to the former president.

"Counter attacking with what about-ism is basically what partisan politics has come to in the United States," Moran continued.

ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent, Jonathan Karl said this defense was considerably more effective due to the audience of the trial and who needs to be swayed, mainly Republican senators.

"They put it back very much on a partisan line, describing this as a political act of vengeance -- this impeachment trial -- and playing all those Democrats saying things that could be seen as incendiary," Karl said.

The Senate has returned from a roughly 40-minute break to resume arguments from Trump's defense team.

As Trump's lawyers get their defense presentation underway, ABC News White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki what message she thinks Americans should have learned from the Senate trial this week. 

Psaki said that Americans "learned about the power of some individuals in the House they might not have known before," perhaps referring to Del. Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, who had a strong presentation that prompted chatter that she is a rising Democratic star. 

"They certainly saw some -- some powerful footage that was a reminder of the shocking events that happened on January 6th. And you know, I think they saw, as the president has said, that that day was an assault on our democracy and it was a reminder of why it can never happen again," Psaki continued.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky