We have some insight into how Trump managed to pull that off. It may be simply because a majority of Republican voters in that state are convinced that President Biden’s win over Trump in 2020 was illegitimate, according to results of CNN’s entrance poll.

After all, it can’t be purely about “the issues,” as we like to say. On immigration, Trump failed to deliver on the wall or solve our broken system while president. On abortion, Trump touts the overturning of Roe v. Wade as his signature accomplishment, but is also signaling he’s not willing to go as far as pro-lifers want. As for the economy, Trump exploded the debt and the deficit, something Republicans are supposed to find problematic. His trade war with China resulted in a huge blow to Iowa farmers, which Trump had to offset by sending them government checks (something Republicans are also supposed to loathe).

The Iowa caucuses weren’t about electability either, apparently. Roughly 40% of caucus-goers prioritized a candidate who “shared their values,” while only 14% said they cared that he or she could beat Biden.

They couldn’t possibly have been about what’s best for the Republican Party. Trump lost the White House, the House and the Senate for the GOP in four short years. Not so much with all the winning.

And they clearly weren’t about morality or character, either. A whopping 72% of Trump voters in Iowa said he was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

So, congratulations, Iowa, you’ve fallen for it! You’ve nominated a guy who didn’t deliver on most of his promises the first time, who was handily defeated by Biden, who lost the whole smash for Republicans, and who might just be in prison when the election actually takes place. But at least you’ll be able to sleep at night believing — falsely — that Biden isn’t the actual president. Terrific.

But as commanding as Trump’s lead is — and no one should doubt that millions of other MAGA voters around the country are equally as committed and hoodwinked — it’s worth pointing out that almost half of Republican voters turned out in frigid temperatures to vote for someone other than Trump.

Now, that fact remains utterly meaningless if it continues to be split between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who finished neck and neck in Iowa, DeSantis in second and Haley in third.

But the voters who want a Trump alternative exist, and DeSantis and Haley are hoping to live another day — or primary — to win them over.

So with Iowa in the rearview mirror, it’s now on to New Hampshire, another small state, unrepresentative of the country’s electorate, with outsized early importance.

There, Trump is also ahead in the polls, but Haley isn’t far behind. DeSantis, on the other hand, is polling in the single digits. More than a month later, it’s on to South Carolina, where Haley and DeSantis are polling second and third, respectively, behind Trump.

So in order to pierce Trump’s seeming inevitability, the race will come down to a battle between two competing factors:

How long can Ron DeSantis go versus how far can Nikki Haley go?

DeSantis’ problems are immediate. New Hampshire and South Carolina aren’t his voters. And he’s running out of money. Can he last on the dwindling fundraising he’s got long enough to make it to more favorable states?

Haley’s problems are more distant. She’s well positioned for good results in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and just announced a huge fundraising haul for Q4 2023. But the map beyond those two states gets harder for Haley, where there are fewer moderates and independents to woo.

It’s hard to say which is the more enviable position to be in — having money problems or map problems — but neither is ideal. DeSantis has to hope for an influx of cash from some very bullish and trusting donors and Haley has to hope DeSantis drops out early enough to give her a chance to be competitive in later states.

How long versus how far.

Of course, it might all be pointless in the end. Nearly 70% of all Republican voters still believe the 2020 election was stolen. If that’s all that’s motivating the majority of the party — as it appeared to be Monday night — it’s safe to say Trump will be their nominee.

Thanks, Iowa.

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

The exasperated driver, whose identity is as of yet unknown, had to finally get out of his car in Manhattan and scream at a group of more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who decided this week that the best way to draw attention to their cause of the fighting in Gaza was to block traffic and access to several bridges and a tunnel in the most populous city in America.

As a mom myself, I can tell you — anyone who came between me and my child wouldn’t get as polite a warning.

“Our aim today was to clog the arteries of New York City to draw attention to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the people of Gaza,” said Jamil Madbak, the 29-year-old organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement — the same group that has previously celebrated terrorism against Israel and the murders of innocent Jews.

“American bombs and American-made internationally prohibited chemical weapons are being dropped on Arabs again, financed by American tax dollars and protected by the American media, again. Those in power think they can get away with this, but us being out here every week is our way of saying we won’t let them.”

No word yet on whether this stunt to snarl traffic using the Holland Tunnel and the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, was successful in lobbying the Biden administration or Israel to change their course in the war against Hamas in the wake of the terrorist group’s barbaric slaughter of more than a thousand innocent Jews and the kidnapping of hundreds more on Oct. 7.

But it did end in the arrest of more than 320 protesters in New York.

Similar protests blocking access to JFK, LAX, and Chicago O’Hare airports over the holidays — on the busiest travel days of the year — also resulted in dozens of arrests and delays for legions of frustrated travelers who couldn’t get to their flights.

If you’re wondering how these obnoxious, self-important, unserious, and even dangerous antics would be an effective way of eliciting sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians suffering in wartime Gaza, your guess is as good as mine. I’m betting that most weary travelers who couldn’t get to work or missed a flight to see their loved ones aren’t going to be buoyed by the fact that, “Hey, at least it’s for a good cause.”

In the wake of that awful tragedy in October, pro-Palestinian groups like PYM and Students for Justice in Palestine have embarked on misguided and arguably ineffective stunts like these to get their point across and try to bring some favorable attention to their efforts. But harassing unsuspecting bystanders hasn’t done the trick. Nor has it endeared them to anyone but each other.

Nor have the countless videos of young anti-Israel activists tearing down posters of Israeli hostages all over our cities. Nor have the threats against Jewish students on college campuses. Nor have all the strongly worded letters demanding various institutions denounce Israel for the death of their own civilians.

What this all misses is that there are plenty of Americans who are persuadable on this, who simply want peace in Gaza, who are sympathetic to the suffering of the Palestinian people, who might even object to Israel’s political objectives. But holding up their flight or keeping them from their family is itself a version of indiscriminate hostage taking, and that is sure to change no one’s hearts and minds.

Neither is blaming Israel for the murders of its own people, refusing to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization, or calling for the genocide of Jews with signs on college campuses like “Holocaust 2.0.”

It’s stuff like this that starts to verge on Westboro Baptist Church territory. When the infamous hate group protests the funerals of gay people and AIDS victims with signs like “God sent the killer” and “God hates f-gs,” it’s hard to imagine that needlessly and heartlessly harassing these grieving people is going to win anyone over to a point of view that is already controversial and offensive to many. And outside of that small group of activists, it just turns everyone else off.

The cause of peace for innocent Palestinians and an end to the war in Gaza is a serious, righteous and good one, at its core. It needs serious voices, and deserves advocates who promote compassion and clarity, not callousness and chaos. But these unserious performances — which range from silly to annoying to deeply offensive — are only hurting that cause.

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

Former President Donald Trump still overwhelmingly leads the Republican pack, despite the fact that he’s facing more than 90 criminal charges and four different indictments and may, at some point, have to run from prison.

Trump voters, blinded by their fealty to him and convinced that he is the unwitting target of a grand conspiracy to take him down, are unbothered by this historic, unprecedented, and otherwise humiliating state of affairs — just as they are unbothered by his attempt at overturning a democratic election and inciting a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, his recent guilty ruling in the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll, his latest fraud ruling, and his near-constant praise of evil dictators who hate our country and all that we stand for…to name just a few indiscretions.

Yes, all of this is just fine with Trump voters. In fact, what would normally be categorized as a very bad year for anyone, but in particular someone running for president, was actually a banner year for Trump. He started off 2023 polling at 45.2% among Republican voters, and ended the year at 61.3%. Lucky guy.

So, despite how discomfiting that is, and how queasy it makes many of us who are not in the idolatrous cult of MAGA, it seems very likely that Trump will be the Republican nominee.

But, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis still believe they have a fighting chance, and Iowa will be the first indicator of whether that’s true or wishful thinking.

Haley in particular might be in a good position to win over independents and moderates — and with the MAGA base’s rabidity and fierce loyalty to Trump, that might be her best bet at winning the nomination.

She seems to know this ecumenically. She’s already spent much of the primary positioning herself as the saner choice, often pointing out, albeit gently, that Trump is followed by chaos. Again, this is not a thing that bothers his voters — but it does bother independents and moderates.

On abortion, she’s opted for language and policy that sounds more compassionate and reasonable than many in the Republican Party. And that may resonate in Iowa, for example, where 61% of adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 70% of women say the same.

And in the Hawkeye State, where a plurality of Republicans actually said that Trump’s recent attacks on immigrants — that they were “poisoning the blood” of our country — makes them more likely to vote for him, her rebuke of those remarks are far more likely to sit well with independents and moderates.

In Iowa, that’s not an insignificant voting block, where there are more registered independent voters than registered Republican voters.

And perhaps most importantly, independents are allowed to change their affiliation on caucus day to vote for Republicans if they so choose.

So, this would all seem to be very good news for Haley, right?

Yes. Except, for some reason, her Iowa ground operation isn’t going after independents.

In a bizarre twist, Haley’s team is only targeting registered Republicans, believing that’s primarily who turns out to vote in caucuses. “There really haven’t even in recent history any historical indications of campaigns going out and really targeting independents, and they also have a pretty low rate of actually showing up to participate,” says Drew Klein, senior adviser for Americans for Prosperity, the PAC that is essentially running her GOTV — get out the vote — effort in Iowa.

While that may be true, this might also be the best shot she has at narrowing that gap between her and Trump. And, considering how undyingly loyal they are to him, chasing MAGA voters seems utterly futile.

There’s some more good news for Haley. CNN announced she, DeSantis and Trump were the only candidates to qualify for its Jan. 10 debate in Des Moines, effectively setting up a DeSantis vs. Haley match since Trump won’t show up.

For her, it’s another chance to position herself as the sane Trump alternative, especially against DeSantis, who’s been running to the right of Trump on many issues.

Or, Haley could use the final Iowa debate to try, in vain, to win over MAGA voters — voters who are so devoted to Trump they say they would vote for him to run the country from prison.

Ignoring independents and moderates in Iowa seems like a very bad strategy. They’re gettable votes, while Trump voters are not.

We’ll see if the odd move helps or hurts Haley in just under two weeks. Here we go.

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

2023 wasn’t an easy year for many of us. It was marked by war — in Ukraine and later in Gaza. With Hamas’ barbaric attack on innocent Jews in October came a shocking and deeply disturbing rise in antisemitism here at home, and a heartbreaking feeling among many American Jews that they are no longer safe in their cities or their college campuses. With that also came a tragic humanitarian loss of life among innocent Palestinians, for whom there is seemingly no end in sight.

It was also a tough year economically for many Americans. Inflation and high cost of living meant tightening the purse strings yet again. And, despite President Biden’s insistence that the economy is improving, it still remains the top concern among voters.

Donald Trump, running for reelection, was catapulted back into our lives after being indicted four separate times on more than 90 charges. He ended the year by telling his enemies, “MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

We’re facing a 2024 election that very few Americans want, and one in which issues like immigration, abortion and crime are deepening divides.

With all of this hanging over us, it’s hard to locate some optimism heading into the new year. But that’s what New Year’s resolutions are for — an earnest attempt at manifesting some control and hope in an otherwise chaotic and disorienting environment.

With this in mind, my New Year’s resolution is to find myself again.

It felt like 2023 was about surrendering to so many forces beyond my control, whether that was at work, in the world, within my mental health journey, and in my job as a mom. Sometimes that’s what you have to do to survive. But in doing so, I lost myself a little. Okay — a lot. In 2024, I’m determined to rediscover the confident and self-assured woman I used to be, before life got so damn hard.

As I do every year, I asked my friends and colleagues to share their resolutions, in hopes that it will provide some inspiration for all of us. Here’s what they said:

Michael Kelly, actor, “House of Cards” and “Jack Ryan”

“It’s basically to be a better version of myself. I have been thinking so strongly about how divided we are as a country (almost finished reading Liz Cheney’s book) and how I have addressed the other side during these past few years. Anyway, it’s something along those lines of being better at understanding and having real conversations. And not just politically.”

Molly Jong-Fast, journalist

“A lot of people died around me this year. My goal for next year is less death.”

Kyung Lah, CNN reporter

“I do have one — and one I’m really going to accomplish because time is truly fleeting. My mom was diagnosed with dementia. And in aiding her struggle, I’m learning that the memories that have stuck for her have been exactly what you’d expect — the moments of intense laughter with her children, often over food made at home. My resolution this year is to create as many of those memories as I can — with my husband, my children and my friends — over food we make and love. Memories that stick through illness, through age, and disease. I don’t care what those memories are — I just want to hold onto those moments.”

Mehdi Hasan, MSNBC host

“To take risks.”

Henry Winkler, The Fonz

“Continue my journey to being my most authentic self!”

Brad Garrett, actor and comedian

“To stop trying to understand or rationalize support for Capt. Marmalade (Trump).”

Andy Ostroy, host “The Back Room”

“To throw an amazing Trump-conviction party!”

Diana Falzone, Mediaite

“My wish for 2024 is peace in a turbulent, divisive world. I’m not trying to sound like a Miss America contestant but we are in need of some serious healing.”

John Avlon, CNN

“To have the discipline to focus on the important over the urgent and the courage to do everything I can to defend our democracy. Also, more laughter with our kids.”

Andrew Yang, Forward Party founder

“I resolve to help a new generation of leaders emerge in 2024 — we need some new energy and optimism.”

Eric O’Neill, author of “Gray Day”

“My resolution is to finish my second book! The Invisible Threat — all about the Dark Web, cybercrime and how to think like a spyhunter to stop attacks.”

Mondaire Jones, Democratic candidate for NY17

“My New Year’s resolution is to save American democracy in this upcoming election.”

Heather Dubrow, “Real Housewives of Orange County”

“I would say my resolution is to be bolder. Leap without over analyzing. Go for it. Sounds so simple I know, but releasing yourself to go after the things you REALLY want without worrying about so much or being afraid to put yourself out there is HUGE.”

Rachael Ray, TV host and chef

“Stay calm and listen as much or more than you talk. Make my first thought and last each day about what there is to be grateful for.”

Josh Gad, actor

“Less screen time!”

Dave Quinn, People magazine

“It’s been a tumultuous year of massive change in my life, so I’m zeroing in on three S’s for 2024: Stability, service, and self-love. Time to reset and refocus on what’s important.”

Victor Shi, host iGen Politics

“I only have 10 weeks until I graduate from UCLA. I want to make the most of my time left in college, with my friends, and in LA. Also, doing all I can to help defeat Donald Trump and keep democracy alive.”

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

It was the second presidential debate, featuring Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, and it birthed a number of memorable moments.

There was Reagan’s chiding line, “There you go again.”

And his pointed question about Carter’s feeble first term:

“Ask yourself: ‘Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America respected throughout the world as it was?’ ”

The night drew a huge audience and undoubtedly helped Reagan oust Carter from office back when debates could do that. A whopping 80.6 million people tuned in.

It was the most watched presidential debate in history, until 2016, when the first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had 84 million viewers.

Other debates brought in impressive crowds, too. In 2000, the first debate between George W. Bush and Al Gore drew an audience of 46.6 million, which was actually considered low at the time.

Until then, the least watched debate in history was in 1996, featuring Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, and was seen by only 36.3 million Americans.

As we enter into the fourth GOP primary debate of the 2024 election cycle this week, it’s worth asking if these exercises still matter.

In a stark contrast, the third GOP primary debate of this year, which featured five candidates, had only 7.5 million viewers. It was a 21% decline from the second debate, which only drew 9.5 million.

That means that more people watched “Yellowstone” in 2022/2023 than the third debate. More people also watched Sunday night football, “Chicago PD,” “Ghosts” and “Young Sheldon.”

The Democrats fared slightly better in 2020, with the highest rated ninth primary debate scoring 33 million viewers, and the lowest rated fifth debate earning only 7.9 million.

The purpose of presidential debates is to inform the voting public, of course. They’re meant to give candidates the opportunity to introduce themselves to America, to draw contrasts between each other, to tout their records, and to address their opponents. They’re meant to give journalists, usually, the chance to ask pointed questions and hold candidates accountable for their words and actions.

But these days, does anyone actually feel more informed after watching a debate? Or are we just looking for zingers and gaffes? Are debates education or entertainment? What are we learning about the candidates, other than who can score more points?

Far from Reagan’s effective “Are you better off?” question to Carter, today’s debates have devolved into a cheap calorie slugfest, an utterly useless cage match where I’d argue no one leaves a winner and voters are in no better position to decide who is the best candidate for president.

How could we be? The candidates are constantly talking over each other, ignoring the moderator’s questions and time warnings, and reaching for the lowest hanging fruit. As for the moderators, the questions seem increasingly designed to gotcha rather than enlighten.

The third GOP primary debate, held last month, left a lot to be desired. It was perhaps former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s line to Vivek Ramaswamy — “You’re just scum” — which garnered the most attention, although I doubt most people could name the issue that prompted the line. (It was Ramaswamy saying that Haley’s daughter used TikTok.)

And remember 2016’s GOP primary debate when Florida Sen. Marco Rubio implied that Trump’s small hands meant another body part was likely diminutive? Trump replied, “If they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there’s no problem, I guarantee.” Super helpful for voters.

Or 2011, when Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to name the three departments he said he planned to eliminate if he became president. “Oops” became the moment of the night — and today, who can remember which departments Perry wanted to cut? Can he?

2020’s debate between Trump and then-former Vice President Joe Biden was another waste of time that journalists called “a hot mess” and a “dumpster fire.” Biden begged a blabbing Trump, to “shut up” and “shush,” while Trump called Biden stupid. When it was finally over, ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos said “That was the worst presidential debate I’ve ever seen.”

As we prepare for yet another GOP primary debate, Reagan seems further away from us than ever. And these exercises seem increasingly futile. Will anyone tune in? Why bother?

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

But however you want to put it, there’s no denying Nikki Haley is having a great month.

Despite a brief mid-month hiccup— where Haley offered up an ill-conceived and backlash-inviting social media ban on anonymity — the former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador seems to have fully recovered and is building serious momentum. This week, Americans for Prosperity, founded by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, made a splashy announcement with a ringing endorsement of Haley and, presumably, a significant financial investment in her campaign.

Importantly, with less than two months to go before the Iowa caucuses, the backing gives Haley more campaign infrastructure and organization, helping with direct-mail operations, more field workers to knock on doors, TV advertising and additional staffing.

Americans for Prosperity explained its endorsement with a direct swipe at the guy leading the GOP primary: “In sharp contrast to recent elections that were dominated by the negative baggage of Donald Trump and in which good candidates lost races that should have been won, Nikki Haley, at the top of the ticket, would boost candidates up and down the ballot.”

Furthermore, “The moment we face requires a tested leader with the governing judgment and policy experiences to pull our nation back from the brink. Nikki Haley is that leader.”

It’s a huge win for Haley from an influential and powerful group that’s already raised $70 million to help the Republican Party oust Trump.

Whether she — or anyone — can do that remains to be seen. Trump still leads GOP primary polls by double digits over Haley and Ron DeSantis. But unlike DeSantis, Haley’s star is on the rise.

Following an impressive Republican debate performance three weeks ago, the headlines were nearly unanimous:

“Haley walks away with third debate.” And that’s not just according to right-wing media outlets, but Time, Washington Post, The Hill and the New York Times.

Then, Tim Scott abruptly dropped out of the race. Despite raising and spending millions, he never cracked above 4% in an average of polls, and his lackluster debate performances actually saw his favorability among Republican voters decline each time.

While he never appeared to be a serious challenger, his exit potentially frees up South Carolina endorsements, fundraising, staff and surrogates that he and Haley had presumably been splitting.

Then, 72 influential Iowans endorsed Haley, including David Oman, a former gubernatorial chief of staff, former Des Moines City Council member Christine Hensley, current state Reps. Jane Bloomingdale and Brian Lohse, and a slew of other state officials.

This week, billionaire Home Depot founder Ken Langone told CNBC he plans to meet with Haley next week as he considers endorsing her, saying that she is “the only person I see who can give Trump a run for his money…”

And JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told the New York Times, “Even if you’re a very liberal Democrat, I urge you, help Nikki Haley, too. Get a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump.”

Also this week, a group of political operatives, including Jonathan Bush, cousin of former President George W. Bush and billionaire CEO Frank Laukien, filed paperwork to launch a new Super PAC backing Haley, and specifically aiming to broaden her appeal among independent voters.

Haley’s been rising in the polls too. In New Hampshire, she’s moved into second place behind Trump in a CNN poll. Importantly for Haley, that puts her ahead of Chris Christie, who’s made New Hampshire a must-win state.

And in a number of polls, she beats President Biden in a hypothetical general election matchup — in one case by 10 points, well ahead of Trump’s margins.

And Trump has noticed her rise. After a strong debate performance in September, he attempted one of his signature, childish nicknames for her, calling her “birdbrain.” Thus far, it hasn’t caught on.

He also responded to the Koch brothers’ endorsement by calling them a “corrupt network of globalist RINO donors,” and her a “puppet GOP candidate.”

Christie has also in recent TV interviews focused on Haley, and in debates DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy have made her a target, too.

So, what does all of this momentum add up to? Maybe, ultimately, nothing — Trump is still leading the pack by double digits, even as he is facing 91 criminal charges and several different investigations.

But if the GOP field consolidates — polls show that if Christie quits, many of his voters would go to Haley — she could end up becoming THE Trump alternative, something many independents, moderates, and disenchanted Republicans have been hoping for.

The Iowa caucuses are Jan. 15. Can she keep up this momentum for six more weeks?

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

He’d listen all day, he said, ultimately coming to believe in the kind of baseless political quackery that’s come to define a wing of MAGA — theories about LGBTQ “groomers,” so-called white replacement, and imaginary pedophile rings in the Democratic Party and Hollywood.

Eventually, he came up with a hit list — Tom Hanks, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Hunter Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom. And Nancy Pelosi.

Thankfully, the former speaker wasn’t home last October, when DePape broke in carrying zip ties and a hammer. But her husband Paul was. On Monday, Paul Pelosi testified that he “woke up in a pool of his own blood” after DePape assaulted him. DePape testified that he actually believed he’d killed Paul, until he read the state charges against him from jail: “Attempted murder.”

As the grisly and troubling testimony of DePape played out on one coast, on the other it was a different kind of freak show.

In a Senate hearing, Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenged Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to a fight — an actual physical fight, where they both stood up from their chairs – until Sanders intervened.

In the House, Tim Burchett accused Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the kidney in retribution for voting to oust McCarthy last month. McCarthy denied the allegation, saying, “If I would hit somebody, they would know I hit them.”

In another House hearing, James Comer angrily told Jared Moskowitz that any accusations that he’d lent his brother money were “bulls–t,” telling Moskowitz, “You look like a Smurf.”

And on Twitter, Marjorie Taylor Greene went after Darrell Issa for voting to kill her motion to impeach a cabinet secretary, calling him a “p—-.”

The name calling and playground taunts were bad enough coming from elected officials. Unseemly, unbecoming, and unprofessional, to be sure. We’ve sadly grown used to that. But the violence and violent rhetoric of Republicans in Congress is a new nadir for a body that’s been sinking deeper and deeper into the fetid muck of Washington politics.

The antics in Congress were so bad, in fact, even Fox News host Laura Ingraham called it“a complete and utter embarrassment.” This, at a network that’s had its share of recent embarrassments, and has been accused of inciting and encouraging violence over and over again.

It’s worse than embarrassing, however. It’s sickening. And it’s the direct result of a morally bankrupt president, and the complicit and power-hungry political party and blood-thirsty media machine that fed his overweening ego.

Politicians and presidents before Donald Trump were certainly no angels. But Trump ushered in a new kind of ugliness. From admitting to grabbing women by the genitals — also known in legal terms as “assault” — to threatening reporters, encouraging his supporters to assault opponents, calling his detractors vicious names, parading his hateful and open bigotry around in the guise of patriotism, and of course inciting a violent insurrection on Jan. 6, Trump turned the presidency into a never-ending WWE cage match of “I got next.”

With the decorum gone, the vengeful policies followed. So too did a politics of punishment, where rooting out heretics became far more important than winning converts, and where Republicans decided to be identified more by whom they hated instead of what they stood for. Punishing became more useful than governing. Threats became the normal means of doing business. Things like civility, decency, empathy and compassion became synonymous with wokeism.

So is it any wonder that the natural evolution of this culture of vengeance would see a deeply disturbed conspiracy theorist, gassed up by far-right media personalities, go and attempt to attack the people he was told to hate? (Incidentally, DePape’s far from the only one. Mass shooters in Buffalo, El Paso, and even as far as New Zealand have all been tied to Trump, and far-right rhetoric and conspiracies.)

Is it really that surprising that elected officials would end up threatening each other, challenging political enemies to fist fights, or even body checking them in the halls of Congress? Not after Trump made the hallmark of his presidency pitting Americans against Americans, and even Republicans against Republicans. Not after Trump made every political battle personal.

Where was this going to go if not here?

There’s a reason all of these Republicans felt completely comfortable behaving this way in public, with cameras rolling, in the People’s House of all places, with no shame or fear of being disciplined — because Trump led them here.

So where will we be in a Trump second term? It can only get worse.

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

In Virginia, the very popular Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin was hoping his party would win control of the legislature — “hold the House, flip the Senate,” as he’s been chanting at rallies — but it was not to be. Democrats retained the Senate, delivering a powerful message that they would continue to be a check on his and Republicans’ powers.

In Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear won a second term as governor in a state that former President Donald Trump carried by more than 25 points in 2020. He defeated a Trump-endorsed Republican, Daniel Cameron, who some have suggested could be on a national ticket one day. Looks like that will likely have to wait.

And in Ohio, another red state that voted twice for Trump, voters decided to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, delivering another blow to Republicans hoping to strip away abortion access.

Abortion is what ties all of these results together. It was both figuratively and literally on the ballot in this off-election year, and it likely drove voters to the polls in the same way it did in the 2022 midterms.

Americans couldn’t be any more declarative on this issue if they tried. In fact, I’ve written several versions of this column over the past few years. The gist? When will Republicans get the message on abortion?

Welp, not this week, it appears.

Back in August, Ohio voters gave their first indication that they weren’t having the Republicans’ hostile takeover of their rights, when they voted against Issue 1, which would have made it harder to amend the state constitution. This week, they sealed the deal.

That followed another decisive victory for abortion rights in Kansas, also a red state, in 2022, when it voted to keep abortion a constitutionally-protected right, and to prohibit the state from prosecuting people involved in abortions. The Republican-led amendment was defeated by an 18-point margin.

In Kentucky, Cameron, the attorney general, boasted on his official website that on “the same day as the Dobbs ruling,” overturning Roe v. Wade, his “decisive actions led to Kentucky’s two abortion clinics immediately closing their doors.” Beshear, who campaigned on adding exemptions to the state’s effective abortion ban, won a second term.

In Virginia, Youngkin had hoped to flip the state Senate to enact a 15-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother. He’d been hammering what he called a “reasonable” proposal on the campaign trail, in hopes of softening the far-right’s extreme messaging on abortion.

But on Tuesday, voters rejected Youngkin’s efforts.

It turns out, it’s hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube when Republicans everywhere have clamped down on abortion rights and access in the wake of Dobbs. It’s perhaps especially difficult to “soften” messaging when Republicans have been suggesting barbaric, regressive and punitive ideas like jailing — and even killing!— women who have abortions. Somehow, that’s not a winning idea for Republicans — imagine that.

All of this was utterly predictable. As I’ve noted time and time again, attitudes on abortion in America have remained fixed and steady since Roe made it legal.

Since 1976, the first year Gallup began polling on the issue, a majority of Americans have always believed that abortion should be legal with some restrictions. A minority have always believed that it should be legal in all circumstances, and an even smaller minority has always believed it should be illegal in all circumstances.

Despite years of pro-life activism, angry and sometimes even violent protests outside of abortion clinics, Trump’s blatant pandering to the evangelical community, and the eventual overturning of 50 years of settled law, attitudes on abortion have not changed. If anything, voters have become more pro-choice.

Republicans thus far seem content to die on this hill, and dying they are. In 2020, 2022, and this round of elections, abortion has managed to save Democrats from rising crime, a border crisis, and a flagging economy in ways Republicans refuse to acknowledge.

But the math isn’t mathing, as the kids say. Extreme abortion laws that are far outside the mainstream — remember, a majority wants it legal but with some restrictions — are proving a loser for the GOP, over and over again.

Will Republicans ride their out-of-touch abortion bans into the 2024 sunset and hope that magically, after nearly 50 years of stasis, voters suddenly change their minds?

Probably. After all, doubling down on bad ideas — like Trump — has become a favorite pastime of the GOP. But on this one, they’ll do so at their own peril.

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

“ Liberals Need a Reckoning With Antisemitism.”

“ How the Democrats betrayed the Jews.”

“ The Left Faces a Reckoning as Israel Divides Democrats.”

The conflict between Israel and Hamas, a terrorist group that barbarically murdered 1,400 innocent civilians in a surprise and coordinated attack on Israel, has unleashed a shocking and appalling level of antisemitism from the left.

From a disturbing indifference to Jewish suffering, to an inability to make obvious declarative statements about Hamas’ atrocities, to a repeated moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas — the latter of which explicitly wants to wipe Jews off the planet — to outright hostility toward Jews, the ugly invective is coming from some unexpected places.

Inside the Democratic Party, elected state officials and members of Congress have refused to condemn Hamas and many have called for an immediate Israeli ceasefire, essentially demanding the IDF leave Hamas alone.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib and others are offering conspiracy theories about the attacks akin to 9/11 trutherism. Tlaib, for example, does not believe U.S., Israeli, and media reports that an Islamic Jihad rocket misfire — not Israel — caused an explosion at a Gaza hospital. Instead, she believes Hamas, the terrorists, and is demanding an independent investigation. “Both the White House and the Israeli government have long, documented histories of misleading the public about war and war crimes,” she said.

On college campuses, many of which are now infamous for trigger warnings, banning offensive speech, and creating “safe spaces,” professors and students are trafficking in viciously antisemitic comments in support of Palestinians, with one national student group celebrating the massacre as a “historic win for the Palestinian resistance.”

In left-wing and mainstream media, a slew of commentators, hosts and reporters have pushed Hamas propaganda and anti-Israel sentiment.

According to Gallup, Democratic voters are also now more sympathetic toward Palestinians than Israelis, for the first time since it began asking the question.

This has all led to some soul-searching and exasperation among American Jews who once counted Democrats as supporters. Rabbi Joel Simonds says, “In these last few days, the silence is deafening and it is hurtful and a betrayal on so many levels. It’s not going to change the way we look at justice. It’s going to change the way we look at our allies.”

Playwright David Mamet wrote of “the sick thrill of antisemitism” inside the Democratic Party, that they “repeat and refuse to retract the libel that Israel bombed a hospital, in spite of absolute proof to the contrary, and will not call out the unutterable atrocities of Hamas. The writing is on the wall. In blood.”

Jewish celebrities including Amy Schumer, Josh Gad and Debra Messing have all addressed antisemitism they’ve encountered.

I know how disorienting, disappointing, and distressing this is for my Jewish friends, as many have shared with me how scared and unsafe they suddenly feel in a country they thought would “Never Forget.”

Back in 2017 I was shocked when hundreds of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, racists and bigots marched at a Virginia rally — unmasked and unashamed — wielding tiki torches, and screaming racist slogans like, “Our blood, our soil,” “Jews will not replace us,” and “White Lives Matter!”

In the wake of the Charlottesville violence, where one neo-Nazi rammed his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters, injuring dozens and killing one woman, the president told America that there were “some very fine people on both sides.”

I had to reconcile with a fact that made me physically sick to my stomach: this naked and appalling bigotry and hate is coming from inside my own political party.

Racism, of course, wasn’t new. It’s always been here. But to watch this level of proud intolerance take hold of a wing of the Republican Party, metastasize over the ensuing years, infect Congress and the right-wing media, and receive comfort from the party’s biggest standard-bearer — the president — has been one of the hardest things to watch in my career in politics.

If you’d told me 25 years ago that the Republican Party of Lincoln would one day elect white nationalists to Congress, that a president would dine openly with neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers, that a presidential candidate would insist that slavery had its upside, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Similarly, if you’d told me that the Democratic Party of Harry Truman would struggle one day to defend massacred Jews against Islamic terrorists whose stated purpose is the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of the Jews, I wouldn’t have believed this either.

I know it’s a painful reality to confront. But just as Donald Trump exposed a dark and ugly underbelly of the far right, Hamas has exposed a dark and ugly underbelly of the far left.

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.

Even in times of peace and stability, this would be a troubling development inside a political body meant to, you know, solve problems. But these aren’t times of peace or stability.

Hamas’ barbaric massacre of hundreds of Jews in Israel not only triggered Israeli retaliation in Gaza, but threatens to open up new proxy wars with Iran, Syria, Russia and Hezbollah.

The slaughter and hostage-taking of Israelis, Americans and other foreign nationals by Hamas also unleashed a wave of antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiment here at home, not to mention new terror threats against the U.S. and other Western nations.

If that weren’t bad enough, Congress has less than a month to figure out how to fund the government and avoid another looming shutdown that could threaten the U.S. economy.

Amid all of this, the GOP clown show only seems to be getting worse, not better.

Jim Jordan failed to clinch the speakership after Steve Scalise dropped out of the running, after Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the speaker’s office on Oct. 3 by just eight Republicans and all the Democrats.

As for a path forward, former Rep. Trey Gowdy put it in stark terms on Fox: “They’re trying couples counseling for people who want to kill each other.”

Gowdy also surmised that the Republican votes against Jordan were retribution for what he called “a drive-by shooting orchestrated by a small group of people” against McCarthy.

“I don’t think this is about Jimmy,” he said of Jordan. “It is about his supporters.”

And they seem to be playing dirty.

Rep. Don Bacon, who ultimately voted against Jordan, says his wife received multiple anonymous emails and texts warning her husband to support the Ohio congressman.

“Why is your husband causing chaos by not supporting Jim Jordan? I thought he was a team player.” After replying, “Who is this?” the next text was ominous: “Your husband will not hold any political office ever again.”

The ugly threats don’t stop there. Some right-wing media personalities are throwing their own wrenches into the already-dysfunctional process.

Fox host Sean Hannity has been publicly and privately pressuring Republicans to back Jordan.

And one of his producers even sent an email to uncommitted members, demanding to know why they weren’t supporting Jordan:

“Sources tell Hannity that Rep xxxx is not supporting Rep Jim Jordan for Speaker. Can you please let me know if this is accurate? And, if true, Hannity would like to know why during a war breaking out between Israel and Hamas, with the war in Ukraine, with the wide open borders, with a budget that’s unfinished why would Rep xxxx be against Rep Jim Jordan for Speaker? Please let us know when Rep xxxx plans on opening The People’s House so work can be done.”

Steve Bannon also used his “War Room” podcast to demand Jordan support, blasting holdout Rep. Steve Womack’s congressional phone number on the air.

Lest you think the dysfunction is limited to the House, over in the Senate, Republicans are refusing to do another one of their jobs — confirm nominees.

Despite the myriad foreign policy and national security implications, Tommy Tuberville is still blocking all Defense Department nominations, including high-ranking military nominations, over a military abortion policy. J.D. Vance put a hold on all Justice Department nominees, in retribution for the DOJ indictment of Donald Trump. Josh Hawley is holding up Energy Department nominees, while Chuck Grassley is holding up a nominee at the Veterans Affairs department.

There’s only one conclusion to draw from all of this: the right is broken. It is no longer a useful check on the left, nor is it a functioning force for conservative policy or principles.

As a party, the GOP has become an ineffectual, bumbling, self-owning sell-out that keeps losing elections, policy battles, and political fights.

As a governing body, Republicans can’t govern themselves let alone the country. Lawmakers prefer to punish their enemies — even inside the house — rather than solve problems.

And as a platform, right-wing media has only become more conspiratorial and self-destructive, allowing demagogues and quacks to lead it down unserious rabbit holes and into billion-dollar lawsuits.

For Trump, who desperately wants these to keep these “good vibes” going, the chaos and dysfunction are a perfect foil for his own legal battles, and help obfuscate the fact that much of this was his doing. He effectively broke the right so that he could transcend it.

For America, we’re all watching what it looks like when a political party is in its final throes of usefulness and relevance. RIP.

S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.