Has questionable MAGA behavior become a new norm?

Sometimes you have to do a double take on American politics 2026.

At first glance, a Republican congressman getting support from Republican leaders for reelection is nothing out of the ordinary.

But a second look reveals that Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) has that backing, despite being accused of physically abusing his ex-wife, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).

His ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Grisham, the former Trump White House press secretary, similarly accused him of abuse and filed for a restraining order .

Most disturbingly, Miller’s ex-wife alleges that he physically abused their two-year-old daughter, including in one instance in which she says he broke the child’s collarbone . Moreno has said Miller is a “danger to his daughter” and that he “holds his breath” every time Miller is around his granddaughter.

Incredibly, Miller still has Republican backing. Neither President Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R- La.) nor the chair of the Republican National Committee, Joe Gruters, have withdrawn their support for Miller.

Here is another reason to do a double taks: The Republican nominee for governor of Colorado, Victor Marx, claims to have killed a person in his youth and refuses to say whether that was the only time he killed someone.

As a Los Angeles Times piece put it : “When Victor Marx was 3 years old, he was forced into a voodoo ritual involving a beheaded cat. At age 7, he killed a man…”

Also, he claims to have rescued 45,000 captives, both children and women, from abuse. He says he “called in a U.S. military airstrike that killed 70 ISIS fighters.” He also claims to have “exorcised demons — and can do so over the telephone, he says, if need be,” according to the Times piece.

Note there is no record of any civilian using American military airpower against Middle Eastern terrorists.

Despite his history and wild claims, Marx remains the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado. He is endorsed by the Republican Governors Association.

In 2012, Republican leaders urged a Missouri congressman, Todd Akin, to get out of a U.S. Senate race after he said that “legitimate rape” rarely results in pregnancy.

Today, Akin’s wild claims would barely register in Trump’s MAGA Republican Party.

Weeks before the 2026 midterms, Miller and Marx remain as candidates in a party led by a president who enforces a low bar for wrongdoing by Republicans, notably himself.

Trump has the support of Republican voters even after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing a woma n and ordered him to pay her more than $5 million.

Trump was also found guilty of hiding a pay-off to a porn star to stop her from talking about a relationship with him.

Indifference to questionable behavior extends to his aides.

Before the August recess, all but two Republican senators voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general. He is the Trump official most responsible for the government’s failure to release all documents tied to the child sex abuse trafficking ring run by Jeffrey Epstein, a former associate of the president.

The “see-no-evil,” reality of Republican politics today is based on Trump’s hold over Republican voters.

They give the president between 80 percent approval, according to YouGov polling .

That support is far above the 35 percent approval given Trump by all voters in a Reuters poll . Nationally, disapproval of his presidency now stands at 57.2 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls .

All that separates Trump from near zero approval is his base. They stand by him and other Republicans with highly questionable records and statements.

This is the new normal induced by Trump in 2026.

Democrats have pushed two candidates off the ballot who face allegations of mistreating women: Senate candidate Graham Platner in Maine and gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell in California.

Trump-style politics holds a different standard.

Trump’s indifference to higher gas prices, for example, requires his base to put loyalty to him above their own economic reality.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) recently described the Trump administration as far from a party of the working class but as “a government of, by and for the ultra-rich.”

In fact, two of his Cabinet secretaries, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, have more wealth than millions of the poorest American households combined.

The Associated Press’ Thomas Beaumont reported last week that “57 Trump [appointed] officials are worth at least $100 million, including 17 ambassadors and the remaining 40 in senior posts across the executive branch.”

Trump’s supporters applaud his populist criticism of out of touch elites. But what about the reality of Trump having the super-rich to run the country.

What about his family increasing its wealth as he is in office.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page recently described Trump’s family as “profiting off the presidency in ways that demean the office.”

Earlier, there was no consequence in Trump’s political world for the fact that he has been found liable for fraud for making false financial statements about his business in New York to get cheaper loans.

If this is the new norm in American politics, it deserves a second look.

Juan Williams is senior political analyst for Fox News Channel and a prize-winning civil rights historian. He is the author of the new book “ New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America’s Second Civil Rights Movement . “