So much has happened in politics in 2023 that compiling a comprehensive list would have required too many work hours — we’d have even missed the holidays.
For the sake of brevity, we narrowed it down to nine truly absurd moments that sum up the state of politics in the U.S. this year.
Boxes of classified documents stored in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom
It’s almost unbelievable that this happened this year. A federal indictment unsealed in June alleged that former President Donald Trump had stored classified documents in Mar-a-Lago, including in the bathroom, the ballroom and his bedroom. Prosecutors also shared quotes from a recording of Trump in which he seems to brag about a classified document: “This is secret information,” he says. “Look, look at this.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Rep. Lauren Boebert getting kicked out of the ‘Beetlejuice’ musical
The Colorado Republican was unceremoniously booted from a Denver theater during a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical in September for being disruptive. Security footage showed her vaping, taking photos with the flash on, dancing in her seat and getting a little too handsy with her date.
Republicans’ House speaker saga
After Rep. Matt Gaetz ousted Kevin McCarthy as House speaker on Oct. 3, three weeks of chaos ensued as Republicans scrambled to find another speaker. Here’s the timeline:
On Oct. 11, they choose Rep. Steve Scalise as nominee but he withdraws his candidacy the next day because he doesn’t have the votes. They Republicans nominate Rep. Jim Jordan, who goes on to fail — not once, not twice, but thrice! — to garner enough votes to win the gavel.
On Oct. 22, Republicans try to decide among nine candidates, seven of whom voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results. Two days later, they land on Rep. Tom Emmer as nominee. Emmer drops out mere hours later, so they nominate Mike Johnson of Louisiana the same day.
Johnson goes on to be elected speaker of the House on Oct. 25.
The weekslong drama underscored the disarray in the GOP, and a wave of retirement announcements followed.
Trump’s mug shot
Trump became the first president, past or present, ever to have a mug shot taken when he was booked at the Fulton County Jail in the Georgia election interference case in August.
His campaign instantly started hawking merchandise bearing the image, and Politico has reported that he raised $7.1 million from it within two days. His campaign is currently selling what it claims are parts of the suit he wore in the photo.
George Santos
Other than Trump, the former Republican member of Congress has arguably had the oddest year of any politician.
Santos’ many lies about his background were exposed; the Justice Department indicted him on a host of charges, including identity theft and wire fraud (he has pleaded not guilty); the House Ethics Committee found he violated federal criminal laws; and he was expelled from the House in a third expulsion vote.
He has since begun a new gig on Cameo, where he reportedly made in his first week more than his annual salary as a member of Congress.
Conservatives’ war on Bud Light
The right-wing obsession with gender identity culminated this year in a rabid backlash against Bud Light. It began when Dylan Mulvaney, a trans woman and social media influencer, posted a sponsored video with the beer in April. Conservatives went berserk and vowed to never drink Bud Light again. Kid Rock filmed himself shooting at cans of Bud Light, and Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw showed off a Bud Light-free fridge.
The brand’s sales fell in the following months. But the real victim was Mulvaney, who said the company left her out to dry as a flood of vile transphobia and bullying came her way.
“For months now, I’ve been scared to leave my house. I’ve been ridiculed in public, I’ve been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she said in an Instagram video in late June.
“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse, in my opinion, than not hiring a trans person at all,” she added. “Because it gives customers a permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want.”
Mitch McConnell’s freezing episodes
The Senate minority leader froze twice while speaking to reporters in separate incidents this summer. It led to intense speculation about his health, though he and his staff have said repeatedly he was just feeling “lightheaded.”
Biden denying the death toll in Gaza
President Biden’s denial of the staggering number of deaths in Gaza from Israel’s bombing campaign in late October sparked enormous backlash.
“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden said, even though his own administration has repeatedly cited the Gaza Health Ministry’s numbers in official documents, as many international human rights organizations do.
Since Biden’s comments in October, the death toll in Gaza has risen to roughly 20,000 people, according to the local health ministry.
Elon Musk
There’s almost too much to say about the Tesla billionaire who has single-handedly turned X (formerly Twitter) into the cesspool of misinformation and hate speech that it now is.
Since rebranding the website, laying off a reported 80% of its staff and perverting its verification system, Musk has allowed Trump, Alex Jones and Ye (Kanye West) back on the platform. He bungled Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign launch on the website. Meanwhile, he challenged Mark Zuckerberg to a cage match and literally told his advertisers to “go f— yourself,” as the CEO he hired, Linda Yaccarino, has responded to concerns about Nazis on the platform with inane platitudes.
Under his antagonistic and turbulent leadership, X has taken a financial hit: In October, the company listed its value at $19 billion, less than half of what Musk paid for it last year.
