{"id":1038792,"date":"2024-08-10T14:50:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T18:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1038792"},"modified":"2024-08-10T14:50:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-10T18:50:52","slug":"maga-malarkey-the-extremism-you-missed-from-republicans-this-week-55","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/maga-malarkey-the-extremism-you-missed-from-republicans-this-week-55\/","title":{"rendered":"MAGA Malarkey: The Extremism You Missed From Republicans This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MAGA Republicans stooped to new lows this week with their extremism, hypocrisy, chaos, and \u2014 as President Biden would call it \u2014 malarkey. In case you missed it: Donald Trump echoed Project 2025 by saying he would \u201cabsolutely\u201d direct the FDA to end medication abortion access if elected; Trump bragged about the crowd size on January 6; new reporting revealed that Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts personally briefed Trump on Project 2025; Roberts delayed the release of his new book that JD Vance wrote the foreword for until after the election; Project 2025 architect Russell Vought is drafting a secret playbook for a second Trump term; Trump\u2019s low-energy campaign schedule included just one stop this week; things are only getting worse for Vance as the most unpopular VP pick in decades; and Vance praised Trump\u2019s failed tax scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump said he would \u201cabsolutely\u201d direct the FDA to end medication abortion access if elected.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer<\/a>: \u201cWould you direct your FDA, for example, to revoke access to mifepristone?\u201d […]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump: \u201cYou could do things that would be \u2013 will supplement, <\/strong>absolutely. Those things are pretty open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cTrump suggests he\u2019s open to revoking access to abortion pill\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsweek<\/a>: \u201cDonald Trump Suggests He\u2019s Open To Banning Abortion Pill Mifepristone\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump bragged about the crowd size on January 6 and said the violent insurrectionists \u201cwere treated very unfairly.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump<\/a>: \u201cThose people were treated very harshly \u2026 nobody was killed on January 6. But I think that the people on January 6 were treated very unfairly \u2026 they were there to complain about an election, and you know it\u2019s very interesting, the biggest crowd I\u2019ve ever spoken to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsweek<\/a>: \u201cTrump Says Jan. 6 Crowd Was Bigger Than MLK\u2019s \u2018I Have a Dream\u2019 Speech\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cTrump Claims Jan. 6 Crowd Rivaled the 1963 March on Washington. Estimates Say Otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Dawsey, Washington Post<\/a>: \u201c\u2018The people of Jan. 6 were treated very unfairly,\u2019 Trump says. He is now bragging about the crowd size on Jan. 6 — \u2018the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian<\/a>: \u201cTrump lashes out at Harris and falsely claims no one was killed on January 6\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New reporting revealed that Trump \u2014 who keeps trying to hide his ties to Project 2025 \u2014 took a private flight with Project 2025 leader Kevin Roberts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cTrump took a private flight with Project 2025 leader in 2022\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn April 2022, Trump shared a 45-minute private flight with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts\u2026 They flew together to a Heritage conference where Trump delivered a keynote address that gestured to Heritage\u2019s forthcoming policy proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018They\u2019re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do,\u2019 Trump said in the speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeparately, Roberts told The Washington Post in an interview in April of this year that he had previously discussed Project 2025 with Trump as part of offering briefings to all presidential candidates. \u2018I personally have talked to President Trump about Project 2025,\u2019 he said in the interview, \u2018because my role in the project has been to make sure that all of the candidates who have responded to our offer for a briefing on Project 2025 get one from me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roberts delayed the release of his new book \u2013 which JD Vance wrote a \u201c<\/strong>violent<\/strong><\/a>\u201d foreword for \u2013 until after the election.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RealClearPolitics<\/a>: \u201cKevin Roberts, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, will delay publication of his forthcoming book in the wake of a media firestorm sparked by Democratic criticism of the Heritage-led initiative Project 2025, RealClearPolitics is first to report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNotably, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a friend of Roberts and the Republican nominee for vice president, wrote the foreword of that book entitled \u2018Dawn\u2019s Early Light.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project 2025 architect Russ Vought is drafting ANOTHER MAGA playbook for Trump and is a top candidate to be Trump\u2019s chief of staff if he regains power.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press<\/a>: \u201cRussell Vought, a Project 2025 architect, is ready to shock Washington if Trump wins second term\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA chief architect of Project 2025 \u2014 the controversial conservative blueprint to remake the federal government \u2014 Vought is likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second Trump administration. And he\u2019s been drafting a so-far secret \u2018\u201c180-Day Transition Playbook\u2019\u201d to speed the plan\u2019s implementation to avoid a repeat of the chaotic start that dogged Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVought has advised influential conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, held a top post in the Trump White House and later established his own pro-Trump think tank. Now, he\u2019s being mentioned as a candidate to be Trump\u2019s White House chief of staff, one of the most powerful positions in government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump\u2019s attempts to reject the [Project 2025] blueprint are complicated by the connections he has with many of its contributors. More than two dozen authors served in his administration, including Vought, who was director of the White House\u2019s Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVought\u2019s [think tank, the Center for Renewing America] was part of a coalition of conservative organizations, organized by the Heritage Foundation, that launched Project 2025 and crafted a detailed plan for governing in the next Republican administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s low-energy campaign schedule included just one stop this week, while Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are barnstorming the battlegrounds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Traylor, NBC News<\/a>: \u201cPretty contrasting campaign schedules this week for Harris and Trump:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c@KamalaHQ is hitting seven swing states over five days while @realDonaldTrump has just a single campaign event on the calendar for the week in Montana.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hill<\/a>: \u201cHarris camp mocks Trump over \u2018low energy\u2019 campaign schedule\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVice President Harris\u2019s campaign mocked former President Trump over his \u2018low energy\u2019 schedule as the vice president prepares for a multistate tour this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Harris campaign account posted a side-by-side comparison of the vice president\u2019s schedule for the upcoming week and Trump\u2019s campaign schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt shows Harris with campaign stops across Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada and shows Trump with one stop in Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Low energy, @realdonaldtrump?\u2019 the campaign wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only campaign stop listed on Trump\u2019s campaign website as of Monday afternoon is his rally in Bozeman, Mont., on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things for Vance \u2013 the historically unpopular running mate with already-underwhelming approval ratings \u2013 have only gotten worse.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post Analysis<\/a>: \u201cA half-dozen polls have now tested views of Vance more than once in the last few weeks. In each of them, his already-underwhelming image ratings have deteriorated \u2014 sometimes significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd crucially, his struggles appear particularly pronounced among educated voters and women. That would suggest that his derisive past comments about childless women are indeed proving to be liabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVance\u2019s net favorable rating (favorable vs. unfavorable) is now nine points underwater in the FiveThirtyEight average. That\u2019s a marked contrast to other recent running mates, who have generally polled in popular territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd notably, three of the repeated polls show about as many people view Vance very unfavorably as have any kind of positive view of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis net favorable ratings have dropped:<\/p>\n\n\n\n