MAGA Republicans stooped to new lows this week with their extremism, hypocrisy, and — as President Biden would call it — malarkey. In case you missed it: On the campaign trail, Donald Trump continues to use the House of Representatives as an arm of his campaign and received the entire House GOP leadership endorsement, while Nikki Haley’s campaign is desperately trying to win over the GOP MAGA base by releasing new ads touting her endorsement from notorious election denier Don Bolduc and bragging about signing an abortion bill with no exceptions for rape or incest. Haley also continues to flail on answering basic questions, dismissing slavery as the cause of the Civil War and instead praising Trump’s extreme MAGA agenda. Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy became the latest 2024 Republican to cozy up to a white supremacist, and MAGA Mike Johnson visited the southern border to discuss immigration despite actively railing against President Biden’s calls for additional funding to secure the border.

With the endorsement of far-right extremists Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer, every single leader of the House Republican chaos conference has now fallen in line behind Trump’s extreme MAGA agenda.

Liz Brown-Kaiser, CNN: “All members of House Republican leadership are now backing Donald Trump for president.”

Scalise: “I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2024.”

Associated Press: “The House’s second-ranking Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise, repeatedly refused to say on Sunday that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, standing by Donald Trump’s lie that Democrat Joe Biden won the White House because of mass voter fraud.”

Scalise on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act: “I’m proud to work closely with my colleagues and President Trump to pass this important legislation.”

Scalise on Trump administration announcing abortion restrictions: “Another big #ProLife win thanks to @realDonaldTrump”

Scalise: “Trump’s tax plan is a win that just keeps giving”

Politico: “[Emmer] stopped short of saying Trump and Republicans should stop pushing false claims that Trump won the election.”

Emmer: “Glad [Trump] is committed to unwinding the disastrous Obamacare.”

2022: Emmer co-sponsored a national abortion ban that would have banned most abortions.

Politico: “[Emmer] stopped short of saying Trump and Republicans should stop pushing false claims that Trump won the election.”

MAGA Republicans in Congress have made clear that allegiance to Trump’s extremist agenda is a litmus test for who gets backed by the party.

Politico: “Stefanik pulls endorsement of House GOP recruit over Trump criticism”

“House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik is abandoning a top party recruit in a swing Ohio district after he was caught on tape calling Donald Trump ‘arrogant.’

“‘I was very disappointed in his inappropriate comments regarding President Trump,’ Stefanik wrote of Craig Riedel on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.”

Melanie Zanona, CNN: “Stefanik has pulled her endorsement of a GOP congressional candidate who was caught on tape criticizing Donald Trump. This is key swing district that Republicans are trying to flip in November.”

Bryan Metzger, Insider: “Stefanik seemingly suggesting that Trump support is a litmus test for her in backing House candidates”

Nikki Haley just released another ad with notorious election denier Don Bolduc, the latest in her long history of cozying up to anti-democracy MAGA extremists. 

Playbook: “NIKKI HALEY is going up with a new ad in New Hampshire featuring DON BOLDUC, the former Army general and failed 2020 and 2022 GOP Senate candidate in the state, who embraced Trump in his second run.” 

Bolduc, justifying his endorsement of Nikki Haley: “I’m MAGA all the way.”

Boston Globe: “Nikki Haley teams up with Don Bolduc for N.H. town halls”

Washington Post: “[Haley] has endorsed and campaigned with a slate of Senate candidates who reject or question the 2020 election results as she positions herself as a potential 2024 presidential candidate.”

In another new ad, Haley bragged about her extreme anti-abortion record that includes signing an abortion ban as South Carolina governor with no exceptions for rape and incest.

Haley ad: “Most abortions after 20 weeks are now illegal in South Carolina after Republican Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill into law Wednesday.”

TIME: “The law passed the General Assembly last week and blocks women from having abortions after 19 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. … Doctors who violate the law could face a fine or jail time.”

New York Times: “Nikki Haley Says She Would Have Signed Six-Week Abortion Ban as Governor”

Fox News: “Nikki Haley, 2024 Republican candidate, vows to sign federal abortion ban if elected president”

Bob Vander Plaats: “If you were governor of South Carolina and that came to your desk, would you sign the heartbeat bill?”

Haley: “Yes.”

After Haley declined to mention slavery as the cause of the Civil War, even Fox News felt compelled to call her out on her rewriting of history.

HuffPost: “Nikki Haley was pressed on Fox News Wednesday to explain her recent failure to mention slavery when asked to state the cause of the Civil War.”

The Messenger: “Nikki Haley is ready to move on from her Civil War comments controversy, but Fox News’ Harris Faulkner pressed the former South Carolina governor on Wednesday to better address the issue.”

“Haley downplayed the controversy on Wednesday and insisted only the media has been talking about her Civil War answer.

‘“The media is the only one that has talked about this issue —’ she said before Faulkner cut in.

“‘No, that’s actually not true,’ the Fox anchor said.”

Faulkner: “I don’t think I’ve heard you say this many words about it at all, but it’s important and you know your state’s history.”’

During her CNN town hall in Iowa, Haley once again sided with the NRA over our children’s safety by refusing to support any new commonsense gun safety legislation. 

Haley: “I’m a concealed weapons permit holder myself and I will tell you that we could go and take away a certain kind of gun today and that would make you feel better today but a week from now, there’d be another shooting.” 

USA Today: “‘You’ve always got a partner in me,’ Haley told NRA delegates.”

2014: The NRA Political Victory Fund endorsed Haley and gave her an A+ rating.

The Messenger: “Nikki Haley Rejects ‘Red Flag’ Laws at CNN Town Hall”

Washington Examiner: “[Haley] emphasized the need to ‘end gun-free zones,’ pinning blame on locations where guns are heavily restricted for shootings, because ‘nobody else is going to be able to protect themselves.’”

During the CNN town hall, Haley also admitted she agreed with Trump’s extreme MAGA agenda, which includes a national abortion ban and ending Social Security and Medicare as we know them.

Haley: “I personally think President Trump was the right president at the right time. I agree with a lot of his policies.”

The entire 2024 presidential field has a white supremacy problem — and Vivek Ramaswamy became the latest to embrace the latest salvo in the race for the MAGA base by refusing to condemn white supremacy and accepting disgraced former congressman Steve King’s endorsement.

Meryl Kornfield, Washington Post: “I asked Vivek if he condemned white supremacy. Vivek said to ‘stop picking on this farce of some figment that exists at some infinitesimally small fringe.’ He said he condemns ‘vicious racial discrimination’ but would not ‘bend the knee’ and condemn white supremacy.”

CBS News: “Steve King, the former Republican Iowa congressman with a history of racist and controversial statements, reemerged on the political scene this week, campaigning with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Wednesday.” 

Washington Post: “Ramaswamy increasingly embraces fringe theories, far-right claims in Iowa”

“Ramaswamy railed against a ‘mainstream media narrative’ and argued King had said nothing racist. Asked by a Washington Post reporter if he himself condemned white supremacy, Ramaswamy said he was ‘not going to recite some catechism.’”

NBC News: “In tense, wide-ranging remarks to reporters on Tuesday night, Vivek Ramaswamy called white supremacy a myth, cited actor Jussie Smollett as evidence, and said he didn’t know who Dylann Roof is.” 

“Toward the end of the press gaggle, another reporter asked Ramaswamy, ‘Mr. Ramaswamy, how can you seriously cite Jussie Smollett when talking about white supremacy when people like Dylann Roof exist?’

“Ramaswamy responded: ‘I don’t know who that is.’”

MAGA Mike Johnson visited the southern border despite still refusing to consider legislation to help secure it. 

MSNBC: “Speaker Mike Johnson took no fewer than 60 of his House GOP colleagues on a trip to the southern border this week, enacting a ritual that is both familiar and pointless.”

Fox News analyst: “You don’t see House Republicans involved in trying to have real solutions. They’re involved in that photo op theater down at the border.” 

The Hill: “Bates claimed that the [House GOP] bill, if enacted, would result in the termination of 2,000 Border Patrol agents, slash the budget of the Drug Enforcement Agency and allow 150,000 pounds of cocaine, 900 pounds of fentanyl, 2,000 pounds of heroin and 17,000 pounds of methamphetamine into the U.S.”