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: Donald Trump bragged about being “proudly responsible” for every abortion ban across the country; Trump said states will decide if women and doctors are punished for performing abortions; women in Arizona are facing a near-total abortion ban from 160 years ago thanks to Trump; Trump’s campaign is understaffed and underfunded while Democrats are building a winning infrastructure going into November; Trump told his rich friends that he’ll give handouts to the ultra-wealthy; the RNC sent robocalls pushing the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen; RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump once again announced that the RNC will partner with election-denying conspiracy theorist Scott Presler, and a House Republican said his GOP clown show conference is too raucous for even “the lord Jesus himself” to manage.

Donald Trump lied about his agenda to ban abortion nationwide, bragged that he is “proudly responsible” for overturning Roe v. Wade, and endorsed every cruel abortion ban across the country.

Trump: “I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of … Roe v. Wade.”

Trump: “Many states will be different. Many [states] will have a different number of weeks, or some will [be] more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be.”

Vox: “But as he has repeatedly boasted since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, it was his judicial appointments that enabled the overturning of Roe v. Wade — and thus, the avalanche of abortion bans that followed its demise.”

NPR: “In his video, Trump claimed credit for the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that said women had a constitutional right to have an abortion.”

Associated Press: “Trump says he will support national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy”

Trump: “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade … Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing. Thank you President TRUMP!!!”

Trump: “I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade, and everybody said that was an impossible thing to do. I put on three Supreme Court justices. Very few people have had that privilege or honor.”

Trump: “Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with. Pro-life had absolutely nothing, being stuck in Roe v. Wade, to negotiate with. … And look, everybody that was president wanted to get rid and tried to get rid of Roe v. Wade … For fifty years, this has been going on. I was able to do it, and I was very honored to do it.”

Trump — who said women who get an abortion should be punished —  paved the way for Arizona to uphold a 160-year-old abortion ban this week, which has no rape or incest exceptions and threatens doctors with jail time. 

CNN: “Arizona Supreme Court rules state must adhere to century-old law banning nearly all abortions”

Business Insider: “Arizona’s abortion ban from 1864 — which would jail doctors for years — reinstated”

Arizona Republic: “Abortion in Arizona set to be illegal in nearly all circumstances, state high court rules”

“The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 160-year-old law that bans abortions and punishes doctors who provide them, saying the ban that existed before Arizona became a state can be enforced going forward.

“Enforcement of the ban could mean the end of legal abortions in Arizona, which reproductive rights activists warn means Arizona women can expect potential health complications.”

Arizona Republic: “Arizona abortion ban: GOP stifles attempt to repeal Civil War era 1864 law” 

“Chaos erupted in the Arizona House on Wednesday as Democrats attempted to repeal the 1864 near-total abortion ban, only to be thwarted by the Republican majority.

“The raucous event, unusual for the chamber, came a day after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Arizona’s Civil War-era abortion law stands and laid bare the raw feelings and political divisions swirling around the issue.”

Slate: “Arizona’s abortion ban is back. It’s every state’s future if Trump wins.”

Washington Post: “Trump says states should determine whether to punish doctors”

Washington Post: “Trump’s telling comment on Arizona abortion law and punishing doctors” 

“Asked whether doctors who provide abortions should be punished, Trump allowed that certain states could do that.

“Some red states also have laws on the books making it a crime punishable by years in prison to provide an abortion. The vast majority of the Senate GOP conference sponsored a law that imposes prison sentences of up to five years.”

Trump: “There has to be some form of punishment [for women who have an abortion].

With Lara Trump and Michael Whatley at the helm, robocalls are the RNC’s latest scam to push the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

CNN: “RNC under Lara Trump spreads ‘massive fraud’ claims about 2020 election”

“The Republican National Committee last week sent out a scripted call to voters’ phones on behalf of new co-chair Lara Trump saying Democrats committed ‘massive fraud’ in the 2020 election.

“It’s the latest example of how the RNC under the former president’s daughter-in-law is perpetuating lies about the 2020 election, even as prominent Republicans say the party needs to look forward to win in 2024.

“It comes amid previous CNN reporting about the RNC asking employees who are reapplying for their jobs whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen in an apparent litmus test for hiring. The RNC denied any such litmus test existed. Lara Trump and new chair Michael Whatley succeeded Drew McKissick and Ronna McDaniel, who had earned the ire of the former president because of his dissatisfaction with how the RNC handled claims of fraud around the 2020 election.”

While President Biden and Democrats are making major investments in key battleground states across the country, Trump and the RNC are struggling to build out his campaign.

NBC News: “Biden is building a behemoth of a campaign. Trump at this point seems to be playing catch-up.”

“Trump’s advisers would not disclose staffing levels, but his ground game still seems to be at a nascent stage. His campaign hired state directors in Pennsylvania and Michigan last week, people familiar with the recruitment process said.

“Combined, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have fewer than five staff members in each of the battleground states, said two Republicans familiar with the committee and the Trump campaign’s organizational structures in 2020 and 2024.

“At this point in 2020 — when Trump was running as the incumbent — the Trump Victory organization already had state directors, regional directors and field organizers on the ground in battleground states, testing field operations and activating volunteers, the two people said.

“‘This is like comparing a Maserati to a Honda — 2020 had staff and the bodies in place to turn out the vote,’ one said. ‘This current iteration is starting from ground zero, and we’re seven months out from the election. It makes no sense and puts them at a huge disadvantage to Biden, who is staffing up in droves.’”

Trump doubled down on his disastrous MAGAnomics agenda that left working families behind, telling his billionaire friends at a fundraiser that he’d give them more tax handouts. 

NBC News: “Trump tells billionaires he’ll keep their taxes low at $50 million fundraising gala”

CNN: “Trump tells wealthy donors he wants to extend his 2017 tax cuts. Here’s why they’d benefit the most”

“The speech outlined yet another divide between Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and President Joe Biden, who is campaigning on raising taxes on the wealthy to fund his social and other priorities while protecting those who earn less than $400,000 a year from tax hikes. Biden’s campaign wasted little time attacking Trump for ‘promising tax giveaways to billionaire donors.’

“If they are extended, more than 60% of the benefits would go to those in the top 20% of income, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research group.

More than 40% of the benefits would go to those in the top 5%.

“The wealthy have already been served well by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which also included multiple corporate tax changes.”

Lara Trump announced AGAIN that the RNC will partner with election-denying conspiracy theorist Scott Presler.

RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump: “Scott Presler is a grassroots hero. … I said I want Scott on our team. … We got together and we said, however we can legally partner, we’re going to legally partner, so the RNC and the Trump campaign are gonna be working side by side with Scott Presler and his organization to ensure that we are utilizing all of the power that we have together.”

NBC News: “[Presler] has a large online following and has helped spread a wide range of conspiracies, including about QAnon, in recent years. Presler was director for a group critical of Islam that organized ‘March Against Sharia’ protests and helped plan ‘stop the steal’ rallies ahead of Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.”

WCCO: “Presler, a Virginia native, planned several ‘stop the steal’ rallies in addition to being on the Capitol grounds the day of the insurrection. Presler also described the siege on the Capitol as ‘the largest civil rights protest in American history.’”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: “The Trump rally was organized by Scott Presler, formerly a paid organizer for the Virginia Republican Party, and a speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. He called for an audit of the election results.

“Attendees, including Presler, repeated false claims of voter fraud in Michigan, stemming from a typo in results from a small county, according to the New York Times. Presler could not cite any examples of voter fraud in Pennsylvania.

“‘Be assured, if I have to set up my own independent commission, I will be looking through votes to make sure there is no fraudulent, illegal activity,’ Presler said.”

Media Matters: “Media Matters previously documented that Presler promoted QAnon in dozens of instances on his Instagram account. Presler has also worked for the anti-Muslim group Act for America, which, The Associated Press wrote, ‘is identified by the Anti-Defamation League as the largest anti-Muslim group in America.’”

The House GOP’s clown show of a conference is so bad that Republican Troy Nehls said “the lord Jesus himself” wouldn’t be able to control it.

Jordain Carney, Politico: “Nehls: Johnson is in an ‘impossible’ position

‘The lord Jesus himself could not manage this conference.’”

Axios: “The 118th Congress is on track to be one of the most unproductive in modern history, with just a couple dozen laws on the books at the close of 2023, according to data from data analytics firm Quorum.

“It’s the product of not only divided partisan control of Washington, but infighting within the House Republican majority that has routinely ground legislative business to a halt.

“That includes the three-week period this fall in which Congress was paralyzed [by] Republican’s inability to find a replacement for ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)”