MAGA Republicans stooped to new lows this week with their extremism, hypocrisy, chaos, and — as President Biden would call it — malarkey. In case you missed it: The RNC’s Platform Committee adopted Donald Trump’s extreme, out-of-touch platform; a group behind Project 2025 is going to sponsor the Republican convention; J.D. Vance praised Project 2025 and said it has “good ideas”; Trump and Marco Rubio are refusing to commit to protecting abortion rights in Florida; Trump said he did a “great service” when he overturned Roe v. Wade, while his MAGA Republicans in the Senate voted against federally protecting reproductive freedom; Trump again called January 6 insurrectionists “hostages”; and Trump tapped convicted fraudster Billy McFarland to join his failing campaign.

The RNC’s Platform Committee adopted Donald Trump’s extreme, out-of-touch platform ahead of the Republican National Convention.

The Cap Times: “GOP approves new platform, written by Trump and passed in private”

NBC Washington: “The Republican party’s 2024 platform reflects a Trump-centric shift in policies”

ABC News: “Trump is trying to distance himself from Project 2025 — but its architects helped shape his RNC party platform”

“But when Republicans meet in Milwaukee next week and vote to officially confirm the first new Republican Party platform since 2016 — which Trump and Republicans across the country will run on — that platform will have been crafted and influenced by individuals with deep ties to Project 2025.

“In May, the Trump campaign and the RNC announced their Platform Committee leadership team, the senior officials tasked with drafting the Republican platform, and named Russ Vought as the platform committee’s policy director and Ed Martin as deputy policy director. Both have ties to Project 2025.

“Other members on the RNC platform committee with ties to Project 2025 include Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who has been vocal in his efforts to ensure the Republican platform does not soften its language on abortion. Perkins has said he is involved in the crafting of the 2024 platform, and Family Research Council is also an advisory board member to Project 2025.

An organization behind Project 2025 is sponsoring next week’s Republican National Convention as Trump continues trying to hide his deep ties with the group.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Think tank behind Project 2025 conservative blueprint signs on as RNC convention sponsor”

“As former President Donald Trump distances himself from a conservative group’s blueprint for a future Republican governing agenda, he will have at least one unavoidable connection to it: the Republican National Convention. 

“The Heritage Foundation, the D.C.-based think tank that produced Project 2025 — a series of policy plans to overhaul the federal government — is among the sponsors of the convention in Milwaukee next week.”

Washington Examiner: “Project 2025 Heritage Foundation partners with RNC”

“While former President Donald Trump has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the policy plan, is on full display at the Republican National Convention.”

Newsweek: “Donald Trump’s Claim He Knows ‘Nothing’ About Project 2025 Has One Problem”

“Donald Trump’s statements that he has ‘nothing’ to do with the conservative Project 2025 have received further scrutiny after the think tank behind the policy plan was revealed to be hosting two events at the Republican National Convention.”

Trump VP contender J.D. Vance praised Project 2025 and said it has “good ideas.”

Vance: “I’ve reviewed a lot of [Project 2025]. There are some good ideas in there.”

The New Republic: “On January 20, 2025, conservatives plan to resurrect a 150-year-old defunct law to ban abortion across the nation. This is not a secret plan—far from it. It’s part of the 180-Day Playbook produced by Project 2025, detailing priorities for an incoming conservative president on day one. These 900 pages lay out a Christian nationalist vision of the United States, one in which married heterosexuality is the only valid form of sexual expression and identity; all pregnancies would be carried to term, even if that requires coercion or death; and transgender and gender-nonconforming people do not exist.

“The playbook says the president should enforce a 150-year-old law, the Comstock Act, which right-wing groups see as a way to ban abortion nationally because it outlaws the use of the mail for the purposes of sending or receiving any object that could be used for an abortion.”

Niskanen Center: “[Project 2025’s immigration proposals] are designed to cripple the existing immigration system without regard for the extraordinarily harmful effects on the health and wealth of our country. They would weaken our nation’s prosperity and security and undermine the vitality of our workforce, with far-reaching consequences for future generations of Americans.”

Trump refused to say how he’ll vote on an amendment to overturn Florida’s extreme abortion ban this November — but his MAGA veepstakes contender Marco Rubio has already said he’d vote against it.

NBC Miami: “As an official Florida resident, Trump also tapped on voting, with Amendment 4 — the right to abortion initiative — on the ballot this November.

“‘I won’t say how I’m voting, but I will be announcing it some time prior to the vote,’ he said. ‘But I wanted to make sure the people had the vote.’”

WFTV: “Florida Abortion amendment gets a ‘no’ from Sen. Rubio”

“‘I’m not voting for that amendment,’ said Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) in an interview with Eyewitness News…

“Rubio, who in his time in the US Senate has introduced several bills to restrict abortion, is a long-time pro-life advocate, who in 2022, co-sponsored a bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy nationwide.”

Trump bragged (again) about overturning Roe v. Wade — this time saying he did a “great service” — while his MAGA VP contenders in the Senate voted against codifying protections for abortion access.

Republicans who voted against include: J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Tom Cotton, Bill Hagerty, Katie Britt, Marsha Blackburn, Joni Ernst, and Mike Lee.

Trump: “If you remember, for 52 years they’ve been trying to get it. So it states it’s in the states, but it got stuck in the federal government with Roe v. Wade. I was able to get that out. That was a great service.”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans block Democratic votes on abortion bills”

“Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Democrats to pass a series of abortion-related bills Tuesday, as the party seeks to keep a focus on abortion and access to reproductive health care ahead of the November election.” 

Raw Story: “Senate Republicans block yet another reproductive rights bill”

NBC News: “Senate Republicans block Democratic bill codifying Roe v. Wade abortion protections”

Trump doubled down on calling January 6 insurrectionists “hostages.”

Trump: “But when people who love our country protest on January 6 in Washington, they become hostages unfairly imprisoned for long periods of time. But fortunately, the Supreme Court has just ruled and they should be out soon.”

Axios: “Trump pledges to free Jan. 6 rioters in early act as president if elected”

Vanity Fair: “Trump Says He’ll ‘Free the January 6 Hostages,’ Who Waged a Deadly Insurrection on His Behalf, in One of His First Acts as President”

“What are Donald Trump’s biggest priorities for his early days in office, should the nightmare in which he wins a second term actually come to pass? Well, aside from being a dictator and presumably getting his Diet Coke button reinstalled, he also wants to free the people who spent January 6, 2021 attacking the US Capitol on his behalf.”

Associated Press: “Trump downplays Jan. 6 on the anniversary of the Capitol siege and calls jailed rioters ‘hostages’”

“Trump also continued to bemoan the treatment of those who have been jailed for participating in the riot, again labeling them ‘hostages.’ […]

“‘They ought to release the J6 hostages. They’ve suffered enough,’ he said in Clinton, in the state’s far east. ‘Release the J6 hostages, Joe. Release ‘em, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe,’ he said.”

Trump tapped fellow convicted felon Billy McFarland (of Fyre Festival infamy) to join his failing campaign of crooks, cranks, and convicts.

Rolling Stone: “The Fyre Fest Fraudster Is Connecting Trump With Rappers”

“So far, McFarland has helped connect rappers with Trump at least twice.

“It’s a fascinating turn of events: Fyre Festival was such an infamous, unmitigated disaster — full of chaos and unfulfilled hype — that the term ‘Fyre Fest’ quickly entered the pop-cultural lexicon as being synonymous with mayhem and catastrophe. Trump’s Justice Department prosecuted McFarland, and in October 2018, he was sentenced to six years in federal prison on two counts of wire fraud. McFarland allegedly used fake documents to deceive investors into putting over $27 million into his Fyre Media Inc. company.”