Looking back, it’s clear that one of the more fateful moments in the evolution of today’s Republican Party came when Kevin McCarthy made his abject pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago three weeks after January 6, 2021. This was, in essence, Donald Trump’s public absolution, with then-House Speaker McCarthy affirming that the GOP would make the construction of a monumental historical lie about the insurrection central to its identity for the foreseeable future.

The infernal plan was to recast what was the largest outbreak of stateside political violence in memory as a just cause—while transforming the insurrectionists into victims and martyrs. By doing so, McCarthy would keep Trump and his movement safely in the Republican Party fold, ensuring the GOP electoral victories that could not be conceived of without their participation.

Suffice it to say, the plan went awry: McCarthy was deposed by angry MAGA lawmakers regardless, the lionization of January 6th helped produce a historic GOP midterm underperformance in 2022, and Trump will be the party’s presidential nominee while facing Jan. 6th-related criminal charges that could help doom the party’s 2024 hopes.

All of which set the stage for Mike Johnson’s groveling meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. Billed as an event about “election integrity,” their press conference confirmed that the GOP remains as committed as ever to their disturbing post-insurrection path.

It was a deeply weird affair. With Trump hovering watchfully over Johnson, the House Speaker said that in campaigning, he’s discovered that people across the country just happen to be thoroughly obsessed with precisely the same thing that preoccupies Trump. “Everywhere we go, one of the first questions that people ask about is this issue of election integrity,” Johnson said.

with Trump looming behind him, Mike Johnson claims that........

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