Steve Benen

Last month, Ed Martin was demoted and sidelined within the administration.

But if he thought that was the worst of his troubles, he’s now learning otherwise.

I wonder if that URL is taken. (I have a hunch it isn't.)

Jorge, you just made my whole day better.

As too many Republicans push anti-Muslim messaging, GOP leaders remain silent It would be easy for any party leader to issue a perfunctory statement saying Republicans are against religious bigotry. That hasn’t happened.

As a growing number of Republican officials push anti-Muslim messages, it’d be easy for a GOP leader to issue a perfunctory statement saying the party is against religious bigotry.

But that hasn’t happened — which speaks volumes.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

I get that, but I think there's likely to be some legislative consequences.

Click the link and check out the bottom half of the piece in which I flesh this out.

I get that, but I think there's likely to be some legislative consequences.

Click the link and check out the bottom half of the piece in which I flesh this out.

GOP member becomes an independent, narrowing the House Republicans’ edge again With Rep. Kevin Kiley going independent, the House GOP majority is now down to 217 votes — in a chamber where 218 is a majority.

When 2026 got underway, there were 220 House Republicans.

Then MTG resigned.

Then Doug LaMalfa died unexpectedly.

Now Kevin Kiley has left the GOP to become an independent, creating a 217-214-1 chamber.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Problem: Team Trump shrugging with indifference as Russia provides Iran with intelligence that could put Americans at risk.

Bigger problem: Team Trump providing Russia with sanctions relief as it provides Iran with intelligence that could put Americans at risk.

Team Trump struggles to spin the worst job numbers since the Great Recession When the nation’s labor secretary flubs arithmetic while struggling to defend poor employment data, there’s a problem.

My favorite part of the Republican response to the worst job market since the Great Recession:

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer tried to subtract 92,000 from 126,000 and somehow ended up with 60,000.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

As oil prices soar, remember: It was four days ago when Trump said he helped “stabilize” gas prices, touting the “decisive action” his administration took “to help keep down the oil prices.”

Yeah, about that...
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Even Trump’s team hedges on his claim about strike on girls’ school in Iran The president blamed Iran for the strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building. His team did not.

As a rule, members of Trump’s team echo whatever he says, without regard for evidence, facts, or propriety.

But on the deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran, that didn’t happen.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Last 14 months of Biden's term:

+1.74m jobs

First 14 months of Trump's term:

150,000 jobs

(total! for the whole 14 months!)

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Trump and the conservative media ecosystem have done a ton of work to recast the Biden years as a Hoover/Carter disaster that Trump rescued us from. I do think that gets harder every month

At the time, I hadn't yet joined the TRMS staff, and as you'd imagine, I was delighted to see Rachel and the team take a regular interest in my monthly jobs chart (which resembled a bikini for about a year).

You have a good memory, @craigipedia.bsky.social, especially since it's been roughly 16 years!

But for the record, while I generated the chart, I think it was Rachel who coined the phrase.

Trump vowed to turn the economy around, and in a way, he kept his promise.

Unfortunately, as the woeful job numbers prove, that meant turning around a healthy economy and delivering an unhealthy one.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

“I guess”: Trump gives wrong response about possible Iranian reprisals on U.S. soil The president has given every indication that he doesn’t want to be bothered about the consequences of his war in Iran.

Trump’s “I guess” answer about possible Iranian reprisals on U.S. soil and the White House’s action-movie montage are pieces of the same puzzle:

These guys want to have some fun with the war, without being bothered by killjoys with concerns about consequences.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Maybe Trump’s emphasis on gas prices wasn’t such a good idea after all As costs climb, and Americans are introduced to the idea of “warflation,” the concept of “The Trump Effect” is taking on a very different kind of meaning.

Remember last week, when Trump emphasized gas prices in his State of the Union address and suggested Americans should judge him on this issue?

That wasn’t smart.

Yesterday, however, he managed to make things worse with false claims about “stabilizing” prices.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Job growth over 14 months of Trump’s second term: 150,000 jobs
The previous 14 months: 1.74 million jobs

Under Biden: 0 months of job losses
Trump’s second term: losses in two of the last three months, three of the last five months, and five of the last nine months.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

For Kristi Noem’s many critics, her ouster is the first step, not the last “Turns out lawlessness is not a winning strategy,” one Democratic senator said. “See you at Nuremberg 2.0.”

As Kristi Noem exits DHS, many of her critics see this as the first step, not the last.

The list of Democrats eyeing post-DHS “accountability” for the hapless secretary is not short.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

GOP’s Gonzales reverses course, acknowledges affair with late staffer In the recent past, Republican leaders said an affair with a staffer warranted a resignation. Does the GOP still care about these standards?

In the recent past, Republican leaders believed members who had extramarital affairs with staffers needed to resign.

As the Tony Gonzales scandal intensifies, the question for Speaker Mike Johnson is simple: Why does the GOP embrace lower and weaker standards now?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Trump’s Justice Dept. reportedly failed to find a crime in Biden’s use of autopen One former U.S. attorney described the investigation itself as “a disgusting abuse of power,” which was more than fair given the circumstances.

There’s obviously a lot going on, but the fact that federal prosecutors tried to build a criminal case against Joe Biden — based on no evidence, because Trump barked unjust orders — is quite insane.

The collapse of the case doesn’t negate the underlying abuse.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Trump’s endorsement isn’t nearly as potent as he likes to pretend The president keeps insisting that his endorsements automatically dictate the results of elections, but reality keeps telling a very different story.

Trump keeps insisting that his endorsements automatically dictate the results of elections, especially in Republican primaries.

And reality keeps telling a very different story.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

As a leading partisan voice, Oklahoma’s Mullin isn’t doing Republicans any favors Perhaps pushing the Oklahoman in front of cameras and microphones isn’t the GOP’s best bet.

On Iran, Markwayne Mullin keeps rushing to appear in front of cameras and microphones, causing fresh problems for himself and his party.

Here’s a radical idea: Maybe Republicans should try relying on someone else?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Dems score upset win in Arkansas special election, giving GOP one more reason to worry The more Democrats win closely watched races, the more Republicans should be concerned about the 2026 midterms.

Number of state legislative seats Dems have flipped since Trump's second term began: 9

Number of state legislative seats Republicans have flipped over the same period: 0
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Why Texas’ Crenshaw became the first member of Congress to lose in 2026 The GOP congressman might have been a Republican lawmaker wedded to party orthodoxy on most issues, but he wasn’t MAGA. It cost him his career.

Remember when Dan Crenshaw arrived on Capitol Hill and was seen as a “rising star”?

Seven years later, the Texas Republican lost his primary — not because he failed to vote with his party, but because he just wasn’t MAGA enough.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

In Iran, Trump’s ‘worst case scenario’ reflects a woeful lack of imagination The president's vision for the worst-case scenario in Iran bears little resemblance to the actual worst-case scenarios.

Trump’s “worst case scenario” in Iran — awful leaders in Tehran might be replaced by similarly awful leaders — reflects a woeful lack of imagination.

The fact that he doesn’t understand this makes a terrifying situation that much worse.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

And to paraphrase Rumsfeld, I'm equally sure they're in the area around Tehran and east, west, south, and north somewhat.

Republicans can’t even agree on whether the war in Iran is an actual “war” When the question is, “Is the United States currently at war?” and the answer is, “It depends on whom you ask,” there’s a problem.

When the question is, “Is the United States currently at war?” and the answer is, “It depends on whom you ask,” there’s a problem.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Haunted by his record, JD Vance tries and fails to put a spin on the war in Iran According to the vice president, the U.S. went to war because Iran was “committed to getting on that brink of a nuclear weapon.” The line needs some work.

According to JD Vance, Trump launched a war because Iran was “committed to getting on that brink of a nuclear weapon.”

Read that sentence again and realize that this was the best he could come up with after thinking about the administration’s policy for three days.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...