In an awkward exchange with reporters Wednesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was asked about CPAC and former President Donald Trump. Republican Whip Liz Cheney (R-WY) was asked the same question, giving her own answer that she doesn't believe the GOP should be the Trump party. It was a moment that prompted one MSNBC host to crack up laughing about it.

"You can actually see Kevin McCarthy's soul leave his body at one point in this press conference," MSNBC's Chris Hayes joked. "He closes his eyes. It just floats out of him. Shortly thereafter, Jim Jordan tweeted President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. You know what, Jim? You are right and Liz Cheney is wrong. The vast majority of Republicans are falling over themselves to associate with this unpopular loser. We're so used to it at this point that I don't think it strikes as weird as it is. It is truly upside down. It is very weird in Republican politics to see a party rally around a loser. Losers tend to believe in popularity and appeal to their supporters and their policy if they lose. Unless you're a Cubs fan, lovable losers aren't really a thing in politics."

On Wednesday, MSNBC's Joy Reid tore into Fox News host Tucker Carlson for his claim that "we could not find" QAnon — the pro-Trump conspiracy theory that the United States is controlled by a secret group of child-trafficking cannibals — and that the entire movement must not exist because there is no official website for it.

"On Fox News, Tucker Carlson is busy trying to downplay the pernicious role that QAnon plays in misinformation," said Reid. "Prosecutors cited the influence of QAnon in connection with the capitol siege. Tucker, ever the intellectual giant, says QAnon can't possibly exist. If it does, where is the QAnon website?"

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has spent the better part of the last two weeks being attacked for what Democratic critics call "failed leadership."

Rep. Ted "Cancún" Cruz (R-TX) infuriated his state so much that his approval has fallen 20 percent among Republican voters. There aren't updated polling reports on Abbott, but anger against him grew in the state, the Washington Post reported, even as power was being restored to frigid Texans.