Peter Wehner: “The president has cultivated and encouraged the ugliest passions within the GOP, dousing the embers of hate with kerosene.”

The University of Florida’s College Republicans chapter has disbanded after a photo showing two members seemingly performing a Nazi salute circulated widely on social media, the Washington Post reports.

John Avlon: “Not so long ago, hugging Hitler was one of those lines you just didn’t cross in a decent democracy, and for good reason: fascism, the Second World War and genocide. Murdering millions of humans should never inspire admiration.”

“But that’s what’s been happening with increasing regularity, revealed by a recent string of unhinged text chains revealed among young Republican leaders. This isn’t an outlier or a one-off. It’s a pattern and a problem.”

“When Hill Republicans succeed, President Donald Trump serves as their center of gravity, helping quiet intra-GOP disputes and pulling the party together,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Yet Trump — dealing with a difficult war in Iran and other priorities — isn’t playing that part for the GOP right now. If that vacuum persists, it could send a crucial, hugely bipartisan push for housing legislation completely off the rails.”

NOTUS: “House Republicans have gathered in South Florida at one of President Donald Trump’s resorts for their yearly retreat, a tradition to discuss legislative priorities.”

“But only 105 of the 218 members were actually present at Trump National Doral Miami on Tuesday.”

None of the Republican incumbents currently holding statewide office in North Dakota will be seeking the Republican party’s endorsement at the state convention later this month, the Fargo Forum reports.

“A candidate or two choosing to skip a party convention for tactical reasons isn’t unusual, but the full slate of statewide candidates opting out sure is. Party leadership has been taken over by populist activists who are, in many ways, hostile to the sort of Republicans who have been winning elections in North Dakota for generations.”

“First, conservatives opposed to military intervention overseas put their trust in President Donald Trump as he swept back into power,” Politico reports.

“Then, the faction in his inner circle that backed the administration’s ‘peace through strength’ motto looked to Vice President JD Vance and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth as their champions.”

“Now, as all three men are supporting the war in Iran, the pro-restraint wing of the Republican Party is searching for fresh leadership.”

“The secretary of Miami-Dade County’s Republican Party started a group chat primarily for conservative students last fall — and within three weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways of violently killing Black people and the chat was renamed after what one member described as ‘Nazi heaven,’” the Miami Herald reports.

“In WhatsApp conversations leaked to the Miami Herald, participants used variations of the n-word more than 400 times, regularly described women as ‘whores,’ used slurs to talk about Jewish and gay people and mused about Hitler’s politics.”

Wall Street Journal: “Heading into midterms that will determine control of Congress, party leaders in Atlanta and Washington had hoped to build party loyalty and unity in Georgia, a red-leaning state that has seen more blue upsets of late.”

“Instead, they have scenes like the one in Rome—and that is creating heartburn for Republicans who fear a family feud will help Democrats in a crucial election year.”

Tom Nichols: “Over the past few months, during his agency’s chaotic crackdowns in Chicago and Minneapolis, the U.S. Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino has worn an unusual uniform: a wide-lapel greatcoat with brass buttons and stars along one sleeve. It looks like it was taken right off the shoulders of a Wehrmacht officer in the 1930s. Bovino’s choice of garment is more than tough-guy cosplay (German media noted the aesthetic immediately). The coat symbolizes a trend: The Republicans, it seems, have a bit of a Nazi problem.”

“By this, I mean that some Republicans are deploying Nazi imagery and rhetoric, and espouse ideas associated with the Nazi Party during its rise to power in the early 1930s.”

The Atlantic: “Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans and calls for her firing from Democrats since the January 24 shooting of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Now Noem’s tenuous standing with the Trump White House is creating concern in her home state of South Dakota that she might leave the Cabinet to challenge Senator Mike Rounds in the state’s June Republican primary.”

“Political allies of Rounds have begun preparing for this scenario, even though they remain skeptical that Noem will actually make the move, three people familiar with the discussions told me. To get into the race, Noem would have to register for the primary and collect the 2,171 supportive signatures statewide by the end of next month. A Noem adviser told me today that she has no plans to leave. But Noem could have an incentive to seek elective office if Democrats remain on track to win back control of the House and launch investigations into her tenure at the Department of Homeland Security. A Senate seat would give her both a professional staff and a fundraising platform to help defend herself.”

Jonathan Last lays out what the conditions would have to be like for the Republican party to begin rejecting Trumpism:

• A sizable midterm loss.
• Presidential approval below 40 percent and heading lower.
• No potential heir to Trump from inside the administration.
• A president willing to take his hands off the wheel and allow the party to abandon him.

He concludes: “Laid out like that, you can understand why this scenario is so implausible.”