It might only be Wednesday, but Republicans are having an awful week. From defending Donald Trump’s shameless praise for Vladimir Putin, to embracing Rick Scott’s plan to raise taxes for more than half of Americans, to Kevin McCarthy’s utter failure to hold Marjorie Taylor Greene accountable for speaking at a white nationalist rally, Republicans are clearly going through it. 

You know what they say: when it rains, it pours. 

Republicans have flat-out refused to stand up to the defeated former president and condemn his comments praising Putin. 

NBC News: “As Biden leads free world against Putin, Trump equivocates”

Insider: “Trump again praised ‘smart’ Putin amid Ukraine invasion and said the US had become a ‘stupid country’”

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel: “I think the American people are really looking at President Trump right now and seeing what he did with NATO when he said: ‘Why are you buying Russian oil while we are paying for your defense?’ You see what Germany did this past weekend. He was right, he shut down Nord Stream 2, he made us energy independent. I think the American people are looking at two policy differences and recognizing that Donald Trump was absolutely on the right track when it came to Russia.”

Florida Politics: “Marco Rubio says Donald Trump’s praise of Vladimir Putin was just sarcasm”

ABC News: “GOP Sen. Tom Cotton won’t condemn Trump’s praise of Putin”

CBS News’s Robert Costa: “Should Trump condemn the Russian invasion when he speaks at CPAC tonight? Even out of power, he remains a central figure in many GOP races nationwide. @CBSNews⁩ asked Sen. Rick Scott, head of Sen Rs’ campaign arm.  ‘We all’ should. Trump? ‘That’s a decision’ for him.”

Mitch McConnell might pretend he doesn’t support Rick Scott’s plan to raise taxes for half of Americans, but Senator Scott is a member of McConnell’s leadership team, and others in his party are making it clear they’re on board with Scott’s agenda. 

NBC News’s Leigh Anne Caldwell: “.@SenRickScott tells me he ‘absolutely’ stands by his 11-point plan. ‘I also believe that people ought to know what we’re going to do when we get a majority,’ he said.”

Politico: “Though Scott’s platform has roiled some corners of the GOP, it has some support in the party too. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said he’s ‘on board’ with Scott’s blueprint and said Republicans need to be thinking about ‘a universal plan that we need to sell to the American people.’”

Marco Rubio: “I think it’s good that people offer ideas.”

It took nearly three days for Kevin McCarthy to issue a statement on Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking at a white nationalist rally, and he’s made no plans to meet with her or hold her accountable. 

Insider: “Marjorie Taylor Greene made a surprise appearance at a conference hosted by a man the ADL called a ‘white supremacist pundit’”

CBS News: “Marjorie Taylor Greene downplays speaking at a conference founded by white nationalist”

The Hill: “GOP leader won’t condemn Greene, Gosar with cameras rolling”

NBC News’s Scott Wong: “.@RepMTG just told me she hasn’t heard from McCarthy at all. He told reporters he planned to meet with her about her appearance at a white nationalist event”

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