This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 14 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”

On Wednesday, Donald Trump delivered his most unhinged performance at a political rally that I have seen to date. I understand how easy it is to dismiss whatever nonsense falls out of the president’s mouth on a given day — after all, the nonsense is part of the strategy; he wants to distract us with it — but his speech in Bullhead City, Arizona, should not be ignored.

At nearly every one of his rallies this election season, Trump has told voters to pretend he’s on the ballot this November. And so, less than 20 days out from this hugely consequential election, I happen to think that every single Republican in every single race in the country should have to answer for the things he says. Every single Republican candidate for office who is telling voters they support this guy should have to explain to those voters where they stand on this madness.

That includes his comments from Wednesday’s rally about government workers who speak to the press. In an apparent reference to the first strikes Trump ordered on Iran in the summer of 2025 and the subsequent reporting that came out of the Pentagon, the president told the crowd that “leakers” are the “scum of the earth,” adding, “They ought to go to jail and be shot for the rest of their life.”

The question every Republican candidate should have to answer between now and November is: Do you agree with Trump that leakers should be shot? Do you agree with Trump that the U.S. government should shoot anyone who leaks information to the media? The leader of your party thinks leakers should be shot — do you agree? A simple yes or no answer would suffice.

Perhaps we might get a clearer answer on something a little less violent. During his rally on Wednesday, Trump also defended his decision to accept a jet as a gift from Qatar to use as the new Air Force One. “When you’re given gifts, you take ’em, right?” he said. “When they give you a 747, you say two words: ‘Thank you.’”

Again, any Republican candidate, if they support Trump, should be asked: Are you okay with the president of the United States accepting a $400 million gift from a foreign country that may want something in return? A gift that, I should add, reportedly raised several national security and counterintelligence concerns, is in open violation of the Constitution and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit, according to estimates.

Do you think that should be allowed? Do you think that’s a good idea? Do you think the only acceptable answer to a gift like that from a foreign country is “thank you”? Are you worried about what Qatar or any other country may want in return?

Or at the bare minimum, do you think it is appropriate when so many Americans are struggling to put food on the table or to fill their gas tanks because everything is so expensive — thanks to Trump’s war with Iran — that the president is on stage in Arizona bragging about the cost of oil? Trump told the crowd the U.S. is “making more money than it’s ever made because of the fact that oil is so high.”

“Now, they’re going to say, ‘Isn’t it terrible? He talked about the fact that he doesn’t care about the little person,’” he continued. “I care about the little person like crazy. But the fact is, because of the price of oil, Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota and all these places, we’re making a fortune.”

Who, exactly, is making a fortune? Republican candidates should have to answer that question. And they should have to tell voters whether they think the high price of oil is a good thing, as Trump does.

Trump has said versions of all of this before. But what’s notable now is that he is unraveling at a pace we haven’t really seen before and he is making less and less sense.

For example, when, for some reason, he went on a bizarre tangent about the doctors he travels with. He told the crowd that doctors on the White House medical unit would refuse to treat sick rallygoers, considering them “collateral damage.” He also called himself a “freaking genius” for being able to complete a basic cognitive test.

Trump-supporting Republicans, do you think Trump is a genius? Do you think the person who took that stage on Wednesday in Arizona is fit for office? Are you comfortable with him having control of the nuclear codes?

We know what they’ll say. But they should still be asked.

Allison Detzel contributed.

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