Infighting Is Funny

Politico reports: Ronna McDaniel is about to draw a challenge to her post as Republican National Committee chair. Harmeet Dhillon, a RNC committeewoman whose firm represents Donald Trump, is prepping a bid for party chair, according to two people familiar with her planning. Dhillon has been talking with fellow RNC members about a prospective run, and those close to Dhillon …

Politico reports: Rep. Andy Biggs gathered roughly a dozen other Freedom Caucus members for a closed door, hour-long Wednesday meeting in his office with House Parliamentarian Jason Smith, who walked them through rules and process of the speaker vote on Jan. 3, according to two people familiar with the sit-down. Reps. Bob Good and Matt Rosendale attended along with the …

Mediaite reports: Conservative radio host Mark Levin went off on the “bonehead” Congressional Republicans threatening to derail Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) bid to be the next speaker of the House. He then proceeded to name and shame these “five saboteurs,” starting with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). “Oh he’s enjoyable to watch on TV, very clever debater. Utterly useless!” Levin seethed. …

Axios reports: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warned that Democrats could “end up picking” the next House speaker if his GOP colleagues fail to coalesce around him. “We have to speak as one voice. We will only be successful if we work together, or we’ll lose individually,” McCarthy said during a Monday interview on conservative outlet NewsMax. “This is …

Axios reports: On Monday evening, several Republican senators — facing the Capitol Hill press corps in-person for the first time since news broke of Trump’s dinner — denounced the meeting. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the Republican Whip, told reporters that the dinner is “just a bad idea on every level. I don’t know who was advising him on his …

The Associated Press reports: Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday said Donald Trump “demonstrated profoundly poor judgment” and called on him to apologize after the former president had dinner last week with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West days after launching his third campaign for the White House. “President Trump was wrong to …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: In addition to damaging Trump, the West presidential campaign is deepening a rift in the America First movement. Fuentes’ ally Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and failed congressional candidate, is using the news to go scorched earth in attacking Yiannopoulos, whom she blames for sabotaging her recent congressional campaign. Loomer has been posting …

The Insider reports: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell wants more power within the Republican Party: he’s officially running to chair the Republican National Committee.  Lindell announced his run on Monday morning during fellow Trump ally Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. “With all my due diligence and in prayer, I am 100% running for RNC chairman against Ronna McDaniel,” Lindell said. “It’s …

“Listen, Sean, we need to win. I mean, that’s just the fact. Our kids’ future depends on it. So, you know, we really all have a responsibility to message what Republican policies bring to this country. “And I don’t know a party that can continue to lose like we have and keep their jobs. Everybody needs to evaluate what we …

The Guardian reports: John Bolton, former national security adviser to Donald Trump, has described the former US president’s act as “old and tired” and said the Republican party is ready to move on to a “fresh face”. “There are a lot of reasons to be against Trump being the nominee but the one I’m hearing now as I call around …

NBC News reports: In this game of chicken, if the conservatives don’t blink and McCarthy refuses to back down, it could result in a chaotic floor fight with House members taking multiple votes for speaker — something that has not happened in a century. When the House gathered on Dec. 4, 1923, Frederick Gillett sought re-election as speaker. The Republican …

“To catch everyone up, last week there were 36 votes against Kevin McCarthy in the Republican conference, and again, Kevin has had years to try to convince people of the worth of his candidacy. Since that time, zero of those 36 have come out to say, ‘You know what, I voted against McCarthy previously, but I’m now prepared to vote …

Congress Minutes reports: Kevin McCarthy’s Thanksgiving holiday has been far from relaxing, as his bid for speakership gets rockier by the day. Another House Freedom Caucus member announced he would not vote for the GOP leader for speaker next term, with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) telling POLITICO in an interview on Tuesday that he will be another vote against McCarthy. …

Former AG Bill Barr writes for the New York Post: Trump isn’t really interested in broadening his appeal. Instead he is content to focus on intensifying his personal hold over a faction within the party — a group that is probably no larger than a quarter of the GOP, but which allows Trump to use it as leverage to extort …

Axios reports: Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R) blamed former President Trump for Republicans’ Senate loss in the midterm elections. “I was not a never-Trumper,” Ryan said on ABC’s This Week. “But I am a never-again Trumper. Why? Because I want to win. And we lose with Trump.” Ryan told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that Republicans could have won …

The Hill reports: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Saturday urged the Republican Party to move on from Donald Trump, just days after the former president announced his third bid for office. “It is time to stop whispering,” Christie said at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting. “It is time to stop being afraid of any one …

The Kansas City Star reports: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday fired a warning shot at former President Donald Trump, indicating he believed the former president was responsible for the Republican Party losing elections. “We were told we’d get tired of winning. But I’m tired of losing,” Pompeo wrote. “And so are most Republicans.” Though it did not …

Freedom Caucus Rep. Andy Biggs writes: During this midterm campaign, I attended hundreds of events in my district, around Arizona, and around the country. The issue I was asked about most often was whether I or the Republicans in the House, or the Republicans in the Senate, would keep the same leaders. Not only did my constituents want the “red …

From right wing commentator Erick Erickson: It is official. Republicans have taken back the House of Representatives. They gathered yesterday to announce their first official act: an investigation into Hunter Biden. Dumbasses. What a bunch of idiots. The American people just rejected the GOP “own the libs” strategy. They signaled they’d love to have responsible adult Republicans in charge. In …

The Hill reports: This week’s bruising leadership fight in the Senate exposed simmering tension between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), former President Trump’s closest ally in the Senate. Graham, one of the Senate’s highest-profile Republicans, sharply criticized McConnell’s leadership of the Senate GOP conference during a private meeting this week. He then told reporters …