It’s not a great week to be the Republican Party. Republicans spent day after day attacking each other, and of course, trying to dodge and even run away from any and all responsibility in the RNC’s decision to officially declare the January 6 insurrection “legitimate political discourse.” The weekend couldn’t come fast enough for Republicans – but then again, at this rate, we’re not sure next week will be much better. 

Three words upended the Republican Party’s week before it even started – “legitimate political discourse.”

• New York Times: “G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’”
   
• Washington Post: “The GOP’s ‘legitimate political discourse’ Jan. 6 revisionism is off to a rough start”
   
• Business Insider: “Kevin McCarthy says RNC should have been ‘clearer’ about what it meant when it framed the January 6 Capitol attack as ‘legitimate political discourse’”
   
• ABC News: “Top GOP lawmaker won’t condemn calling events of Jan. 6 ‘legitimate political discourse’”
   
• Politico: “Senate GOP backlash smacks RNC after Cheney-Kinzinger censure”

Mitch McConnell had another huge recruiting miss because Republicans are just not interested in joining him in the Senate:

• MSNBC: “Why yet another GOP governor turned down Senate Republicans”
   
• The Hill: “GOP falters in effort to recruit star governors for Senate”
   
• Yahoo! News: “Maryland’s Larry Hogan becomes 3rd GOP governor to decline Senate run this year”
   
• CNN: “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan won’t run for Senate despite recruitment effort by GOP leaders”
   
• The Baltimore Sun: “Maryland Gov. Hogan says he won’t run for U.S. Senate, diminishing GOP chances of flipping a Democrat-held seat”

Meanwhile, the Republican Party civil war continued full steam ahead:

• CNN: “McConnell and McCarthy split over RNC censure resolution”
   
• The Hill: “GOP governor’s group launches ad for Kemp against Trump-backed primary challenge”
   
• New York Times: “Censure Vote Has Republicans Battling Themselves Again”
   
• Washington Post: “‘Legitimate political discourse’: Three words about Jan. 6 spark rift among Republicans”
   
• New York Daily News: “Sen. Mitt Romney slams GOP for ‘legitimate discourse’ defense of Jan. 6 attack”
   
• Yahoo! News: “Nikki Haley calls out Pence for saying Trump was ‘wrong’ about overturning 2020 election”

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