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Nancy Mace gives Republicans 'hard truth' they 'don't want to hear'

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who is leaving Congress to run for governor of South Carolina, is firing some parting shots at her Republican colleagues.

In a Monday op-ed for the New York Times, Mace called out her party's leadership for failing to effectively govern despite having majorities in both the House and Senate. She accused the GOP of promoting members to leadership based on politics, rather than how effective they were at passing legislation. And she railed against leaders keeping bills secret from members until it was time to vote.

"A small number of lawmakers negotiate major legislation behind closed doors and spring it on members with little notice or opportunity for input," she wrote. "Leadership promises members their provisions will be in a bill, then strips them out in final drafts. Every must-pass bill is loaded with thousands of pages of unrelated policies, presented as take-it-or-leave-it. The House has abdicated control of appropriations, which the Constitution says must originate here, to the Senate."

The South Carolina Republican pointed to the latest effort to ban members of Congress from trading stocks as a way in which leaders "have systematically silenced rank-and-file voices." She noted that despite a broad majority of Americans being in favor of a stock trading ban and imposing term limits on lawmakers, leaders have refused to listen to members and the constituents they represent.

"These are bipartisan supermajority positions. The House cannot hold a simple up-or-down vote on any of them," she lamented.

Mace even heaped praise on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The outgoing congresswoman held her up as an example of a leader who was able to use a House majority to her party's advantage by prioritizing passing legislation.

"Here’s a hard truth Republicans don’t want to hear: Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century," Mace wrote. "I agree with her on essentially nothing. But she understood something we don’t: No majority is permanent. When Democrats hold the majority, they ram through the most progressive policies they can. They deliver for the coalition that elected them while they are in power."

Click here to read Mace's full op-ed in the New York Times (subscription required).

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'They don't deal with Jesus': Christian minister lays down a challenge to Mike Johnson

Addressing far-right white evangelicals and Christian nationalists, President Donald Trump repeatedly attacks Democrats, liberals and progressives as anti-Christianity. But it isn't hard to find Trump critics who are known for being devout Christians, from Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock (a Baptist minister) to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (a Catholic) to former Transportation Secretary Pete Butigieg (an Episcopalian).

Another critic of Trump and the MAGA movement is Bishop William J. Barber II, who chairs the NAACP's legislative political action committee. Barber is a member of the Disciples of Christ, a Mainline Protestant denomination. And during an interview with Religion News Service (RNS) published in Q&A form on February 9, Barber described the role that faith can play in activism this midterms year and laid out some things that MAGA evangelicals — including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) — get wrong about Christianity and scripture.

Barber told RNS interviewer Amanda Henderson, "In every battleground state, there should be a massive gathering in the state capitol where the clergy and impacted people and other moral activists come together. No politicians taking the stage…. It's not what I'll fight for because Trump's in office, it's what I will fight for, what I believe in regardless, and what I'm calling this government and nation to be about, irregardless. We're trying to follow that kind of moral Holy Spirit vision of mobilization."

During the interview, Henderson noted that Johnson said, "What's also important in the Bible is that assimilation is expected and anticipated and proper…. Sovereign borders are biblical and good and right. They're just, because it's not because we hate people on the outside. It's because we love the people on the inside."

Barber told Henderson he would be "proud to host" a debate with Johnson about immigration and other subjects.

Barber argued, "First of all, he reveals that he doesn’t know the Bible. He reveals that he certainly doesn't know Jesus. There’s no Jesus in anything he just said. They don't like Jesus. That's why they never call his name. They don't quote Jesus. They don't like Jesus. Jesus undermines them. They would call Jesus a socialist, a communist. They would crucify Jesus. Let's be up front. They don't deal with Jesus…. To do what he's talking about doing, you literally have to take about 2000 scriptures out of the Bible and tear them apart and throw them away — and the Bible, of course, would fall apart."

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Trump wasting time on 'frivolities' while his voters abandon him: GOP strategist

According to one longtime Republican strategist, President Donald Trump's apparent inability to focus on substantive policy issues rather than culture war fodder could be the final nail in the coffin for Republicans' majorities in one or both chambers of Congress this fall.

In a Wednesday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove — who was a senior advisor to former President George W. Bush — predicted that Democrats would win control of the House of Representatives in November. He observed that the chances are extremely slim his party holds onto the House, pointing out that sitting presidents have only added to their majorities in 1998 and 2002, when Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush enjoyed more than 60 percent approval, and in 1934, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was immensely popular.

The veteran Republican operative also noted that Democrats only need to flip three seats, since House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) only has a razor-thin 218-214 majority to work with (and is now even urging Republicans to postpone their retirement announcements). Rove argued that Johnson's job isn't made any easier by Trump, who he argued is unable to exercise message discipline.

"Democrats want this election to be a referendum on Mr. Trump. So they’re happy for him to fill his days attacking the Super Bowl halftime show, posting a map showing Greenland, Canada and Venezuela as American possessions or trashing a U.S. Olympic athlete on Truth Social," Rove wrote. "Every moment he spends on such frivolities is a missed opportunity to advance his cause."

Rove reminded readers that during Trump's first term, Democrats won 41 seats in the 2018 midterms, after which then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "spent the next two years bedeviling Mr. Trump." He wrote that, like 2018, Democrats could once again win back the House by running on healthcare. While Democrats in Trump's first term seized on voter anger over Republicans' failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Democrats in 2026 are already attacking Republicans for failing to extend ACA tax credits – causing their constituents health insurance premiums to significantly increase.

In his op-ed, Rove lamented that Republicans may ultimately be doomed if Trump puts himself front-and-center in the months leading up to the midterms. He asserted that the GOP may fare better at the polls provided Trump is able to "restrain himself, act presidential, deliver results and create constructive change."

"His choice will have a profound impact on the election’s outcome," he wrote.

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Why these 'faith-based voters' are 'recoiling at Trump’s cruelty'

Although President Donald Trump maintains a strong bond with far-right white evangelicals and Christian nationalists, his relations with Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Jews and other non-fundamentalists are much more complicated. Some of Trump's most scathing critics are known for being quite religious, from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to Sen. Raphael Warnock (a Georgia Democrat and Baptist minister).

In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark in early February, journalist Lauren Egan reports that Democrats — with the 2026 midterms a little over nine months away — are ramping up their outreach to voters of faith.

"As Democrats scope out the emerging midterm landscape," Egan reports, "party strategists and officials have grown excited about the number of candidates for whom religion is a major part of their biography and identity. The most prominent so far is James Talarico, the middle school teacher turned Texas state representative running for U.S. Senate. The grandson of a Baptist preacher, Talarico is an outspoken Christian and an aspiring Presbyterian minister. But Talarico is far from the only Democratic candidate notable for the role of faith in his life. There is also Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister, who has a shot at flipping Iowa's 3rd Congressional District."

Egan continues, "Meanwhile, in the state's 2nd Congressional District, Lindsay James, an ordained Presbyterian pastor, and Clint Twedt-Ball, a United Methodist pastor, are both vying for the party's nomination. Matt Schultz, the head pastor of Anchorage's First Presbyterian Church, is running for Alaska’s sole congressional seat. Chaz Molder, a small-town mayor and Sunday school teacher, is running in Tennessee's fifth district. The list goes on."

Many of the people of faith running in the 2026 midterms, according to Egan, reflect "the public recoiling at the immorality and cruelty of the Trump Administration."

Schultz, a Mainline Protestant, told The Bulwark, "All of these people are coming to me and saying, 'Please, won't you help me? Please, won't somebody do something to stop this onslaught of cruelty? We're crying out in pain.' And as a pastor, it's my duty to stand between the abusers and the abused."

Michael Wear, who oversaw former President Barack Obama's faith-based outreach during the 2012 presidential race, believes that the challenge for Democrats is to excite their religious voters without alienating those who are not religious.

Wear told The Bulwark, "The Democratic Party contains some of the most religious people in America and some of the least religious people in America. It's not just (that) there's a God gap between Democrats and Republicans — there's a God gap within the Democratic Party itself. One of the ways to navigate that is to just take it off the table. But the problem when you take it off the table is you leave a pretty profound lane for someone like Donald Trump to say, 'Well, they don't care about you. They don't hear you, but I do.' And that's a lot of what has happened over the last 12 years."

Lauren Egan's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.

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Who thinks Republicans will suffer in 2026? Republicans

The midterm elections for Congress won’t take place until November, but already a record number of members have declared their intention not to run – a total of 43 in the House, plus 10 senators. Perhaps the most high-profile person to depart, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, announced her intention in November not just to retire but to resign from Congress entirely on Jan. 5 – a full year before her term was set to expire.

There are political dynamics that explain this rush to the exits, including frustrations with gridlock and President Donald Trump’s lackluster approval ratings, which could hurt Republicans at the ballot box.

Rather than get swept away by a prospective “blue wave” favoring Democrats – or possibly daunted by the monumental effort it would take to survive – many Republicans have decided to fold up the beach chair and head home before the wave crashes.

As of now, two dozen Republican House members have either resigned from the House or announced their intent to not run for reelection in 2026. With only two exceptions – Republicans in 2018 and 2020 – this is more departures from either party at this point in the election calendar than any other cycle over the past 20 years.

There is also growing concern within the House Republican caucus that Greene’s announcement is a canary in the coal mine and that multiple resignations will follow.

As a political scientist who studies Congress and politicians’ reelection strategies, I’m not surprised to see many House members leaving ahead of what’s shaping up to be a difficult midterm for the GOP. Still, the sheer numbers of people not running tells us something about broader dissatisfaction with Washington.

Why do members leave Congress?

Many planned departures are true retirements involving older and more experienced members.

For example, 78-year-old Democratic congressman Jerry Nadler is retiring after 34 years, following mounting pressure from upstart challengers and a growing consensus among Democrats that it’s time for older politicians to step aside. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker who will turn 86 in March, is also retiring.

Sometimes, members of Congress depart for the same reasons other workers might leave any job. Like many Americans, members of Congress might find something more attractive elsewhere. Retiring members are attractive hires for lobbying firms and corporations, thanks to their insider knowledge and connections within the institution. These firms usually offer much higher salaries than members are used to in Congress, which may explain why more than half of all living former members are lobbyists of some kind.

Other members remain ambitious for elective office and decide to use their position in Congress as a springboard for another position. Members of the House regularly retire to run for a Senate seat, such as, in this cycle, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan. Others run for executive offices, including governor, such as Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

But some are leaving Congress due to growing frustration with the job and an inability to get things done. Specifically, many retiring members cite growing dysfunction within their own party, or in Congress as a whole, as the reason they’re moving on.

In a statement announcing his departure in June, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., mused that “between spending another six years navigating the political theater and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with my family,” it was “not a hard choice” to leave the Senate.

What’s unique about 2026?

In addition, there are a few other factors that can help explain why so many Republicans in particular are heading for the exits leading up to 2026.

The shifting of boundaries that has come with the mid-decade redistricting process in several states this year has scrambled members’ priorities. Unfamiliar districts can drive incumbents to early retirement by severing their connection with well-established constituencies.

In Texas, six Republicans and three Democrats – nearly a quarter of the state’s entire House delegation – are either retiring or running for other offices, due in part to that state’s new gerrymander for 2026.

All decisions about retirement and reelection are sifted through the filter of electoral and partisan considerations. A phenomenon called “thermostatic politics” predicts that parties currently in power, particularly in the White House, tend to face a backlash from voters in the following election. In other words, the president’s party nearly always loses seats in midterms.

In 2006 and 2018, for example, Republican members of Congress were weighed down by the reputations of unpopular Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Trump. Republicans had arguably even greater success in midterm elections during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Currently, 2026 looks like it will present a poor national environment for Republicans. Trump remains highly unpopular, according to polls, and Democrats are opening up a consistent lead in the “generic ballot” question, which asks respondents which party they intend to support in the 2026 midterms without reference to individual candidates.

Democrats have already been overperforming in special elections, as well as the general election in November in states such as New Jersey and Virginia, which held elections for governor. Democrats are on average running 13 points ahead of Kamala Harris’ performance in the 2024 election.

As a result, even Republicans in districts thought to be safe for their party may see themselves in enough potential danger to abandon the fight in advance.

Retirement vs. resignation

One final, unique aspect of this election cycle with major consequences is not an electoral but an institutional one.

House conservatives are quietly revolting against Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership style. That members may be frustrated enough not just to retire but resign in advance, leaving their seats temporarily vacant, is a notable sign of dysfunction in the U.S. House.

This also could have a major impact on policy, given how slim the Republicans’ majority in the lower chamber is already. Whatever the outcome of the midterms in November, these departures clearly matter in Washington and offer important signals about the chaos in Congress.

Charlie Hunt, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Johnson's 'seismic' failure is also a 'major setback for Trump': analysis

MS NOW producer Steve Benen says House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is racking up the kind of failures his predecessors never had — including his most recent one, who was ousted by his own party.

On Tuesday, Johnson and House GOP leaders tried to propose a rule change that would prevent any lawmaker from threatening President Donald Trump’s tariffs until August. Johnson’s effort failed 214-217 after three Republicans joined all Democrats to destroy it.

The vote is historic for its rarity, but also historic for its frequency under Johnson, said Benen.

“During Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s tenure as House speaker, she literally never lost a rule vote. During former Republican Reps. John Boehner’s and Paul Ryan’s tenures, they also never lost such a vote,” said Benen. “In the last Congress, however, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy lost three of these votes. And after he was stripped of his gavel, his Republican successor, Mike Johnson, lost four. In the current Congress, Johnson lost one rule vote last year, and then another Tuesday night.”

But the vote is more than just another failure for what is racking up to be one of the House’s least successful speakers. The vote itself was a warning to a president who has — at least until now — wielded complete control of the Republican Party.

Couched into Johnson’s rule was language forbidding House lawmakers from challenging Trump’s tariffs until July 31. Specifically, it stipulated that certain days no longer "constitute a calendar day" for the purpose of terminating national emergencies. This is meaningful because Trump used a national emergency to impose his controversial tariffs.

Politico described the vote as a “seismic” failure, but Benen said “it’s worth appreciating why.”

“First, this was a major setback for Trump, who expected the House chamber that he has effectively controlled for a year to back him up on his controversial trade tariffs agenda,” said Benen. “When that didn’t happen, it offered fresh evidence of an unpopular lame-duck president whose grip on Capitol Hill, even when his own party is in control, is clearly loosening.”

Secondly, Benen said this embarrassing vote “clearly didn’t do the House speaker any favors.”

“Johnson, who has long been seen as a weak figure, has now lost more rule votes than any speaker in generations, and the Louisiana representative’s troubles are only going to get worse,” Benen said. “In the wake of Tuesday night’s failure, Democrats will be able to force a series of uncomfortable votes on the White House’s tariffs, and GOP leaders, already struggling with a vanishingly small majority, won’t be able to stop them.”

Essentially, what Johnson did was ask his own party “to keep surrendering their own legal authority” to a president who is using that power to raise costs for American consumers and businesses. The failure of this vote, said Benen, was a fundamental rejection of an entire partisan mindset plaguing the Republican Party under Trump.

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Republican members of Congress are convinced GOP will suffer in the 2026 midterms

There is also growing concern within the House Republican caucus that Greene’s announcement is a canary in the coal mine and that multiple resignations will follow.

Why do members leave Congress?

Many planned departures are true retirements involving older and more experienced members.

What’s unique about 2026?

In addition, there are a few other factors that can help explain why so many Republicans in particular are heading for the exits leading up to 2026.

As a result, even Republicans in districts thought to be safe for their party may see themselves in enough potential danger to abandon the fight in advance.

Retirement vs. resignation

One final, unique aspect of this election cycle with major consequences is not an electoral but an institutional one.

Charlie Hunt, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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'Disgusting lies': Trump's Jan. 6 revisionism slammed as 'evil and dishonest'

The White House is coming under fire for its “alternative” depiction of the events of January 6, 2021—an episode many have described as an insurrection, a riot, or an attack on the U.S. Capitol and on American democracy.

“President Trump took decisive action to pardon January 6 defendants who were unfairly targeted, overcharged, and used as political examples,” the White House said on its new webpage detailing January 6, which it also called “A Day That Will Live in Infamy.”

“They were not protected by the leaders who failed them. They were punished to cover incompetence,” the White House claimed.

In one passage — misleading and disputed by the public record — the White House alleged: “The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as ‘insurrectionists’ and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government.”

“In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection by certifying a fraud-ridden election, ignoring widespread irregularities, and weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters, all while Pelosi’s own security lapses invited the chaos they later exploited to seize and consolidate power,” the claim continued. “This gaslighting narrative allowed them to persecute innocent Americans, silence opposition, and distract from their own role in undermining democracy.”

The White House’s J6 webpage also claimed that then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi “repeatedly” acknowledged responsibility for “catastrophic security failures” including “not having the National Guard pre-deployed, despite intelligence warnings and President Trump’s offers of troops that were ignored.”

The Speaker of the House does not have control over the National Guard, and numerous reports show that Trump made no formal offer to deploy troops on January 6, according to Politico.

Critics took issue with the webpage and many of the White House’s claims.

Axios’ Trump White House reporter Marc Caputo called it an “alternative Jan. 6 history.”

Spectrum News’ national political reporter Taylor Popielarz charged that the White House was attempting “to rewrite what actually happened on Jan. 6, 2021.”

Mediaite contributing editor Sarah Rumpf wrote that the “new White House website contains so many disgusting lies about #January6 it’s hard to know where to start.”

“Relax,” suggested The Bulwark’s Will Saletan. “You’re not living in an authoritarian country. Except for the part where the president seizes unprecedented powers. And the part where he orders sham prosecutions. And the part where his White House rewrites the history of his coup attempt.”

Attorney Drew M. Capuder called it “one of the most evil and dishonest things I have ever seen.”

The Cato Institute’s David J. Bier simply described it as “pathological.”

Political scientist Michael D. Swaine offered an extensive response:

“A despicable, shameful distortion of reality by a lawless, rogue white house,” Swaine wrote of the White House’s January 6 website. “Yes, January 6th will live in infamy, as an effort to violently overthrow the results of a legitimate election by a criminal politician and his goons.”

“The truth is crystal clear, based on January 6th and many actions since then,” he continued. “Trump has become an illegitimate leader who should be impeached, tried, convicted, and removed from office. He has violated the Constitution and engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors. He will go down in history as by far the worst US president. Under him, the United States is being turned into an authoritarian, rogue nation.”

Swaine urged Americans to “stand up and speak out,” and he warned that it’s “time to act on the basis of the laws and ideals of the nation and get rid of Trump and his quislings.”

“An absolute disgrace,” declared HuffPost’s White House correspondent S.V. Dáte. “Stalin-level propaganda. The people who put this together — on OUR dime — should be ashamed of themselves.”

NBC News, reporting on the White House’s new January 6 webpage, wrote that “Trump is rewriting the narrative around the Capitol siege.”

“In the months after the attack,” NBC added, “Americans generally agreed on what had just happened; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called it a ‘terrorist attack.’”

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Mike Johnson and House Republicans have had a terrible year — and it may get even worse

“I have not lost control of the House,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) proclaimed to a gaggle of reporters last week. However, his stranglehold on the caucus may be faltering.

Writing Tuesday in The Atlantic, Elaine Godfrey and Russell Berman argued that being a Republican member of the House while under Donald Trump's presidency is not all it's cracked up to be.

In the past month, Johnson has been attacked for "stretching if not wholly disregarding the truth" with his colleagues. It's a problem that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also faced before he was voted out of the chair.

The day that Johnson claimed he still had control of his members, a small group of GOP lawmakers came together with Democrats to push a bill that would extend healthcare subsidies that were set to expire at the end of 2025.

“This place is disgraceful,” vented Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.). He was attacking the failure to stop huge spikes in health insurance premiums.

Godrey and Berman noted Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), also denounced Johnson in public, saying he was ineffective. She then decided to leave and run for governor (though she has since suspended her campaign and is not running for another term in the House).

Even Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who has frequently spoken out against Democrats, asserted that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) was an effective leader while implying that Johnson is not.

It has been almost a year since Republicans gained control of every branch of government: the White House, two houses of Congress and a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. But despite all of that power, they have little to show for it.

At the end of the year, C-SPAN releases statistics on the House and Senate and found that 2025, "The number of public laws enacted by each body is at an all-time low."

“We need a course correction here,” complained Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calf.) when speaking to The Atlantic.

A group of current and former Republican members of Congress wouldn't give on-the-record comments, asking that they speak anonymously to be more candid, the report said. They agreed Johnson has "lost practical control of the House."

“I think he’s a good man, a good attorney, a good constitutionalist, and a bad politician,” said one Republican lawmaker.

Another said he means well, but, "In his obsession with not offending anyone, he offends everyone."

Republicans also spent very few hours out of the 43 days of the government shutdown at work in Washington. By contrast, the Senate sessions continued. The House GOP also made "no effort to constrain" Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) while the quasi-agency gutted Congressionally-funded agencies, per the report.

When they began to see the significant impact of Trump's tariffs on the economy, the GOP wrote provisions into bills that restricted lawmakers from trying to cancel the taxes.

The one accomplishment of the GOP was passing Trump's so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," but the bill itself is not only unpopular, but Trump also tried unsuccessfully to rebrand it in an effort to persuade Americans to support the law.

The writers concluded that things won't get much easier for Johnson in the coming election year, and that the speaker will likely be outvoted trying to block the healthcare subsidies. Another government shutdown in the coming month is also not out of the question.

Read the full report here.

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'This job has destroyed me': MAGA podcaster goes down in flames after affair scandal

Far-right podcaster Elijah Schaffer was once a rising star, according to right-wing watchdog and Bulwark reporter Will Sommer. He was an “ad-libbing political loudmouth” with a penchant for exciting the right kind of audience. But now Sommer reports the online right is being rattled by a recording that suggests Schaffer may have had an affair. Some are even starting to suspect that their traditional-family-values heroes “may not be so trad after all,” according to Sommer.

“Even more scandalous: the affair was with his employee Sarah Stock, an e-girl and influencer so ostensibly traditional that her marriage was blessed by the pope himself,” Sommer said.

Schaffer, himself, had a long way to fall, said to Sommer.

“His coverage of the 2020 riots in the wake of George Floyd’s murder propelled him into a job hosting a popular show for mentor Glenn Beck’s network, the Blaze,” said Sommer. “Schaffer’s boozy, racist frat-boy persona was a hit. … He literally was in Nancy Pelosi’s office on January 6^th — and saw his stature grow because of it. But in 2022, Schaffer was fired from the Blaze after allegedly groping a coworker. He also provoked another harassment lawsuit against the outlet from his female cohost.”

For much of the last decade, Sommer said Schaffer has been a regular presence on the far-right conservative media scene as a podcaster before serving as CEO of the outlet RiftTV, where he and helpers discussed trad values, “of which he — married in 2020 and now the father of two young children — was not just an outspoken supporter but presumably an exemplar,” said Sommer.

He became “a vocal family man, touting his wife and children frequently on social media, and shaming other influencers who didn’t have strong marriages and households,” said Sommer.

But a few months ago, Schaffer took a month-long absence from his show, and when he returned on January 26 Sommer said he literally “looked rough.” Schaffer admitted his face was unusually red, but he blamed the lights in his new studio and tried to claim he’d developed a “permanent black eye” from mental stress that could drive people to suicide.

It was on one of these weird return shows that Schaffer launched into an attack on his wife, with whom he had filed for divorce days earlier.

“Mama bear, mama bear, f—— you!” Schaffer said. “What about dad? What about dad? Don’t f——with me! Don’t f——with my kids. Don’t f——with my income, don’t f——with my ability to take care of my kids. I will f—— you up.”

He later claimed during a January 28 show that: “This job has destroyed me, and I’m not even very popular!”

Sommer said things got worse from there when right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos posted recordings and transcripts on social media questioning Schaffer’s hypocrisy and mental stability.

In one recording, a man sounding like Schaffer supposedly talks about having a drinking problem. Another allegedly features Stock, who was also a RiftTV political commentator, contributor and street interviewer, describing a sexual relationship with Schaffer that began at the Conservative Political Action Conference (presumably in February 2025). Yiannopoulos claims the woman is Stock and says she had an encounter with Schaffer after he offered her Benadryl and shots of alcohol, prompting her to black out.

Sommer said Stock became a right-wing Catholic influencer and gained prominence after one of her racist rants during a YouTube debate with liberal commentator Sam Seder.

“Since then, she has been a fierce opponent of extramarital sex, denouncing “fornication,” said Sommer, adding that “the brewing scandal has provoked what can only be described as an outpouring of schadenfreude” since both have made enemies with their “vigorous moral policing.”

“The trad stuff is performative BS,” declared MAGA influencer “Emily Saves America,” who had clashed with Stock.

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This hero offered to punch Trump out

Two days after her beloved Democratic Party showed it still has plenty of fight left by battering Donald Trump’s Republicans at the polls all over the country, Nancy Pelosi, 85, announced her retirement from Congress Thursday.

There ought to be monuments erected in Washington D.C., to honor this great woman. You can wipe the damn smirk off your face.

I’m dead serious about this.

After raising her five children to adulthood, because the children — ALL children — always came first with Pelosi, she served in Congress for 38 years where she would become the first woman ever to ascend to Speaker of the House.

She was without a doubt the most powerful person to ever hold this lofty position, and if you don’t believe me, let former Republican Speaker John Boehner tell it:

“Nancy Pelosi had a killer instinct and may be the most powerful Speaker ever. She understands power, knows how to use it, and rarely leaves fingerprints.”

Can somebody point to one person like Pelosi in our nation’s history who has book-ended and deftly turned the pages on two ugly chapters of Republican filth, incompetence and destruction?

Can somebody point to just one person who hung in for America’s sake and led the charge to help rescue her not once, not twice, but three times from the abyss?

In 2006, George Bush, the Far, Far Stupider One, was in the middle of his patented, daily drooling while hundreds and thousands of our nation’s finest were being killed and wounded every month in Iraq thanks to a war predicated by his singular ability to lie through his crooked teeth.

As caskets draped in flags were brought back to our country and hidden from plain sight by the Cheneys, Roves and Rumsfelds, we were quietly steaming toward what would be the most horrific financial crisis since the Great Depression. Making matters potentially worse, just moments away from hundreds of thousands losing their homes and jobs, Bush was snorting and cackling about Social Security reform, because, well, shouldn’t everybody have the ability to invest in the stock market? Yes, had that ghastly GOP reform gone through, the Great Recession could have actually been far, far worse.

Imagine that.

Well, not a moment too soon, the 2006 Midterms happened and the Democrats seized control of the House and Senate and set about restoring order to Bush’s odious, corrupt Republican animal House.

And, say, is this ringing any bells …?

Anyway, in the Democrats’ wisdom back in ’07 they nominated Pelosi, the firebrand from San Francisco, to become the face of the party and the first woman ever to grab the Speaker’s gavel.

And an aside: I still get chills down my spine and a lump in my throat typing about this. I was not prepared for that moment. To see a woman finally rise to these new heights in American politics meant my daughters and other daughters could do it, too. In short, I became a blubbering fool and my love and respect for Nancy Pelosi started.

Because I am telling you again: Nobody has ever done her job better.

From 2007 to 2011, Pelosi ran the House with style, integrity and a champion arm-wrestler’s strength. She was key in helping elect the first Black man to the U.S. presidency. And when you think about it, have we ever been better off than with Barack Obama and Pelosi at the helm of our government?

Sigh …

Pelosi’s 111th Congress was one of the most productive ever. Some say it was the most productive. Who am I to quibble? She tirelessly rammed through life-changing and -saving legislation. She didn’t suffer fools lightly, but really she was just smarter and savvier then what she was messing with — and she wasn’t messing around.

Pelosi’s Congress passed Wall Street reforms, got rid of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” committed our country on a course toward clean energy, and twisted enough arms to get something called the Affordable Care Act passed by a whisker. Hell, those are just a few headlines. I could type 30 more column inches on what this titan accomplished during her historic, four-year term.

In short: SHE-HANDLED-THIS.

So with order restored and our nation on its way back from the abyss, the Democrats did what they absolutely do best: took a big, damn nap.

The Radical Right Tea Party blew a hole through truth and decency in the 2010 Midterms, and after four years of restoring order to the House, Pelosi was done as Speaker.

Six years later, the Democrats still in a Van Winkle slumber sat out the 2016 elections and the repulsive Trump, replete with a Republican Senate and Congress, was elected president.

The Democrats awoke from their nap in a panic and started sifting through the rubble for answers while tripping all over themselves in the darkness.

Again, is this ringing any bells?

It was going to be a long, terrifying two years.

In fact, it was a long, terrifying two years. But something magic was happening … While the orange beast terrorized the countryside, he was being met with real resistance. I’m talking get-out-on-the-street-and-do-something resistance.

If the Democrats were completely outraged by Trump and his GOP, they were even more outraged at themselves for letting it happen in the first place. A resolve to clean up that mess gripped the Left.

Then, just like in 2006, the 2018 Midterms came along and hopefully in the nick of time.

The Democrats demolished the GOP at the polls that year, casting nearly nine millions more votes. Despite being gerrymandered to the point of suffocation, the Dems seized 40 seats in Congress. They were back in charge, but who would lead them?

What?! Are you kidding?! Who would lead them?!?!

Nancy Pelosi would lead them, that’s who, dammit.

You got a mess to clean up? You need order restored? You need a titan to stand up to a bully? You need strength and honor staring down the crooked face of evil and corruption?

You call on the strongest leader in the world.

Pelosi rebuilt committees brick by brick, tore in to the ghastly Trump and tore up his slobbery speeches. Nobody, I mean NOBODY publicly took it to Trump like she did. He had no idea what to do with a strong woman, who was half his size, and better than him in every, single way.

Pelosi and her Democratic Congress put the brakes on Trump and his odious presidency, and helped Joe Biden run the madman out of office in 2020 — but not before his appalling attack on America just months after that election. Pelosi, of course, was in our Capitol that day, while Trump’s anti-America MAGA filth were hunting her down.

She took charge, and was caught on camera saying of Trump:

“I want to punch him out, and I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”

Instead, and unfortunately, Trump slithered away from his violent attack because Biden’s Justice Department lacked even half of Pelosi’s strength and resolve.

With Biden in office, Pelosi did what she does best and got the votes to pass the historic Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS bill and the bipartisan infrastructure law.

In 2022, Republicans reclaimed the House and Pelosi stepped aside from formal leadership, tossing the baton to New York’s Hakeem Jeffries.

These days, the weak and grotesque Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has rammed through one bill of significance and it helps only the billionaires in this country, who helped install his rancid party in office.

Johnson replacing Pelosi as Speaker is the flea replacing the lion.

And if you are reading all this, and still have the inclination, to start with some, “Yeah, buts …,” concerning Pelosi you’ve missed the entire point of this column and her career.

You can attach “yeah buts” to Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, King, or Kennedy … but they are all recognized as iconic figures.

Like these men, Nancy Pelosi is a singular person in American history. Her tirelessly work in service to this country, has made it a better, safer, healthier, and smarter place to live.

So how do you honor this woman’s sacrifice and leadership?

You thank her.

You build monuments to her.