NBC News recently caught up with Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, who assured the public that her party is no longer interested in litigating her father-in-law’s 2020 defeat......

No, really, that’s what they said — as if embracing transparent nonsense for which there is literally no evidence is emblematic of someone who excels in critical thinking.

But wait, there’s more. CNN reported:

The Republican National Committee last week sent out a scripted call to voters’ phones on behalf of new co-chair Lara Trump saying Democrats committed “massive fraud” in the 2020 election. It’s the latest example of how the RNC under the former president’s daughter-in-law is perpetuating lies about the 2020 election, even as prominent Republicans say the party needs to look forward to win in 2024.

What was that Lara Trump was saying about the party leaving its bonkers conspiracy theories “in the past”?

Stepping back, there’s no shortage of Republican insiders who desperately want Donald Trump and his team to move past their focus on 2020, if for no other reason than to appeal to mainstream voters who have no use for such a message.

But for reasons the former president and his political operation haven’t yet explained in a coherent way, they just can’t seem to help themselves.

It was against this backdrop that the Republican took steps to revise his revised position on abortion. NBC News reported:

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Arizona Supreme Court went too far in ruling the state’s 160-year-old near-total abortion ban can be enforced. Trump made the comment as he spoke to reporters after he landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ahead of a campaign fundraiser.

Asked about whether the Arizona court’s justices went too far, the former president said, “Yeah, they did,” though he quickly added, “That’ll be straightened out, and as you know it’s all about states’ rights.”

During the brief Q&A, Trump proceeded to use the phrase “states’ rights” repeatedly, as if he’d stumbled onto a magical maxim that solves all of his problems......

A Biden campaign spokesperson said after the former president’s latest rhetoric, “Trump lies constantly — about everything — but has one track record: banning abortion every chance he gets. ... The guy who wants to be a dictator on day one will use every tool at his disposal to ban abortion nationwide, with or without Congress, and running away from reporters to his private jet like a coward doesn’t change that reality.”

The part about Trump’s dishonesty is of particular interest. The Republican’s rhetoric has been all over the place — for weeks, months, years, and decades — suggesting that his claims and assurances are utterly meaningless.

What the public should do is watch what he does, not what he says — and what he’s done is take steps to end Americans’ reproductive rights.

A recent Punchbowl News report concluded, “This is the most chaotic, inefficient and ineffective majority we’ve seen in decades covering Congress.”

Can things get worse in the chamber? Of course they can. NBC News reported:

A band of hard-right agitators, backed by former President Donald Trump, revolted against GOP leaders Wednesday, blocking renewal of a powerful surveillance program that is set to expire next week and throwing the GOP-led House into chaos once again.

This vote was months in the making. GOP leaders invested real time and effort into advancing a compromise bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — a law first approved in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack covering warrantless surveillance of non-Americans. But when Johnson and his team brought the bill to the floor, 19 of their own members ignored their party’s leadership on a key procedural “rule” vote......

As for the near future, NBC News’ report went on to note, “It’s unclear whether Congress will be able to renew 702, which the administration says is a critical national security tool, before it expires on April 19,” which is a week from tomorrow. Watch this space.