MAGA Republicans from the House of Representatives to the presidential campaign trail this week reached new levels of their extremism, hypocrisy, chaos, and — as President Biden would call it — malarkey. In case you missed it: House Republicans wreaked havoc among their own conference as the world watched their chaos — as well as Jim Jordan’s record-breaking levels of failure — Tom Cole amplified Jordan’s plans to gut Social Security and Medicare, House GOP members are tearing each other apart publicly, and Tim Scott missed a Senate vote supporting Israel to schmooze with Wall Street executives in an attempt to save his floundering campaign. 

Also this week, on the presidential campaign trail, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis both continued to use the deadly terrorist attack on Israel to further push their dangerous rhetoric.

Jim Jordan’s disastrous speaker bid tied the record today for the lowest vote tally for a majority’s speaker nominee in modern history. 

NBC News: “Jordan’s 199 votes mark the first time in 100 years that the majority nominee has gotten less than 200 votes.”

House Republican Tom Cole couldn’t have made Jordan’s extreme MAGA agenda more clear than in his nominating speech — where he touted Jordan’s plans to end Social Security and Medicare as we know them. 

MSNBC: “Jordan ally points to his regressive plan for Social Security, Medicare”

Tom Cole: “He has the courage to talk about a plan to get at the real drivers of debt. We all know it’s Social Security. We all know it’s Medicare. We all know it’s Medicaid.”

House Republicans are in such disarray that they aren’t even hiding their embarrassment in public.  

Marjorie Taylor Greene: “This [Republican] conference is broken.”

Tony Nehls: “It just seems like we are … dysfunctional right now.”

Mark Alford: “It does not send a good message, to tell you the truth.”

Phil Mattingly, CNN: “Tell me who can get 217 votes in your conference.”

Mike Lawler: “Right now there is nobody.”

Tim Scott skipped yesterday’s vote on a resolution in the Senate to stand with Israel in order to hit the campaign trail and fundraise with Wall Street executives.

The Hill: “The Senate voted unanimously Thursday afternoon, 97-0, in favor of a resolution stating the Senate stands firmly with Israel and firmly against Hamas.”

Not voting: Tim Scott

Bloomberg: “A group of prominent attorneys and Wall Street executives will host a fundraiser in New York next month for US Senator Tim Scott … The lunch, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 19 in midtown Manhattan, will be hosted by One Equity Partners LLC’s Chip Schorr, Sabin Metal Corp. owner Andrew Sabin, Brown-Forman Corp.’s Matt Hamel and Eric Levine of Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt & Kakoyiannis, P.C.”

Donald Trump followed up last week’s erratic behavior — criticizing Israel and calling a terrorist organization “smart” — by doubling down on his Islamophobic rhetoric and calling to revive his widely rejected, extreme Muslim ban.

Reuters: “Trump pledges to expel immigrants who support Hamas, ban Muslims from the U.S.”

The Messenger: “Trump Pledges New Muslim Travel Ban and Immigration Crackdown”

New York Times: “Former President Donald J. Trump, while addressing the fighting in Israel on Monday, attempted to stoke fear of attacks taking place on U.S. soil and suggested that a travel ban like the one he implemented as president could stop such violence. Mr. Trump’s comments, at a campaign rally in Wolfeboro, N.H., echoed the anti-Muslim rhetoric that he successfully tapped during his 2016 presidential run, harnessing sentiments that have lingered in the post-9/11 era.”

Washington Post: “Former president Donald Trump, condemned by his Republican rivals and others last week for calling Hezbollah militants “very smart,” responded Monday by proposing harsher restrictions on immigration based on ideology, targeting Hamas sympathizers and critics of Israel. In addition to blocking people from entering the country based on ideological screenings, Trump said he would revoke student visas and deport anti-Israel demonstrators. He also pledged to expand his travel ban on people from Muslim-majority countries and refuse refugees.”

Ron DeSantis echoed Trump’s extreme rhetoric and claimed that Palestinians in Gaza are “all antisemitic” and should not be accepted as refugees. 

New York Times: “Mr. DeSantis argued on Sunday that it would be detrimental to the United States to ‘import’ large numbers of refugees and would fuel antisemitism, echoing comments he made about people in Gaza the day before that drew scrutiny. At a campaign event on Saturday, Mr. DeSantis said, ‘If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist.’”

CNN: “DeSantis’ characterization of Gaza residents is not supported by public polling on the issue. In a July poll by the pro-Israel organization the Washington Institute, 50% of Gazans agreed that ‘Hamas should stop calling for Israel’s destruction and instead accept a permanent two state solution based on the 1967 borders.’”