Sunday Snapshot: Trump's NSFW joke NBD for GOP

Former President Trump is deep in his dark MAGA era as he delivers an unorthodox closing message in an unprecedented election cycle.

Yes, but: While Democrats hammer Trump on his recent vulgar and sometimes violent rhetoric, House Speaker Mike Johnson brushed the comments aside Sunday as typical hyperbole.

Here's what you may have missed when newsmakers hit the airwaves this Sunday, October 20.

1. Johnson: Trump's crude comment just rally "fun"

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and CNN's Jake Tapper clashed Sunday over Trump's recent eyebrow-raising comments.

The big picture: Earlier in the campaign cycle, some Republicans urged Trump to stick to the script. But now, they're brushing aside questions about his rhetoric, saying political dialogue should be about policy — even when the former president is speaking publicly about a golf pro's genitalia.

• The GOP nominee opened his rally Saturday with a long story about famed athlete Arnold Palmer while campaigning in the town where the legendary golfer was born.
• "Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women," Trump said. "This is a guy that was all man."
• "When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, 'Oh my God. That's unbelievable,'" Trump continued.

Zoom out: Trump also stirred controversy this week when he characterized Democrats as the "enemy from within" and suggested using the military on Election Day should there be chaos.

• Later in the week, he doubled down, naming both Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and "the Pelosis" when discussing the "enemy," calling the couple "so sick" and "evil."

What he's saying: Johnson first contended that the race "shouldn't be about personalities" and instead be focused on policy.

• But pressed on Trump's crude words and concerns about his mental acuity, Johnson dismissed apprehension about the former president's stamina, pointing to his lengthy rally speeches.
• On Trump's off-color story, Johnson said, "He has fun at the rallies; he says things that are off-the-cuff."

Johnson also argued Trump's threats against the "enemy" were not directed at his political opponents but rather at "marauding gangs of dangerous, violent people," to which Tapper replied with a clip of Trump naming Schiff and the Pelosis when discussing "the enemy from within."

• His dismissal sparked a fiery exchange between the two, with Tapper saying, "If a Democratic presidential candidate said that you and your wife were evil, and that the military should be used against you, I would say that's disgusting."
• The Louisiana Republican again argued Trump was not talking about using the National Guard and the military against Democrats but rather to "keep the peace in our streets."
• Johnson painted Trump as the "most attack, maligned political figure in U.S. history" and contended voters are willing "to give a little on his ... social media posts and some fun language he uses at rallies."

Zoom out: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who endorsed former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley over Trump before she suspended her campaign, told ABC's Martha Raddatz Sunday that while he doesn't "like the profanity" or the "personal attacks," the former president's jabs won't "move the dial."

• "It's an outrageous statement by Donald Trump — OK, must be a Friday night, right? It's just par for the course," he said, arguing the Harris campaign's efforts to highlight Trump's rhetoric will not sway swing state voters.

2. Georgia official denies voter fraud claims

With just over two weeks until Election Day, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger denied that there is voter fraud in the state after an incident with a voting machine surfaced last week on social media.

Driving the news: Raffensperger confirmed on "Face the Nation" that Whitfield County experienced an issue with a ballot but said user error was to blame.

• "The lady thought she had pressed a certain, you know, selection, and then when she printed out the ballot ... she saw that, and so then she made them aware of it, and it got corrected," he said.
• Raffensperger cautioned that the situation was "blown out of proportion" by "people that like to use, you know, Twitter and other forms of social media."
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who represents Whitfield County, was among those who shared the story on X.

Zoom out: Raffensperger also threw cold water on comments made Saturday by Trump. The former president claimed that it will take at least seven days to calculate results since paper ballots will be used in the election.

• The Georgia Secretary of State confirmed that all of the state's ballots will be cast via paper, but around 75% of the results will be delivered by 8 pm ET on election night.
• "We will be waiting for is the overseas ballots that come in no later than Friday, and so those will then be the final numbers. And we'll just see if that makes the difference in the total vote totals," he said.

Between the lines: Over 1.3 million votes have been cast in Georgia ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5. Those numbers are a state record.

• North Carolina also set an in-person early voting record on Thursday with over 350,000 ballots cast.

3. Musk voter giveaway should be investigated: Shapiro

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a former attorney general, called tech mogul Elon Musk's pledge to give money to registered swing state voters who sign a conservative-leaning petition "deeply concerning."

Catch up quick: Musk announced Saturday that his super PAC would award $1 million daily to a signee of the petition for the "First and Second Amendments."

• Musk made his announcement at a town hall in Pennsylvania, where he gave a check to a rally attendee.
• Earlier this month, Musk said that for each swing state voter an individual refers, that person gets $47. For Pennsylvania voters, the offer grew to $100 this week.

Driving the news: "I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing not just into Pennsylvania but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians," Shapiro said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

• Pressed on whether the financial incentive could be illegal, Shapiro replied, "I think it's something that law enforcement could take a look at."

Zoom out: Musk gave nearly $75 million in three months to his pro-Trump America PAC, per FEC filings released earlier this month.

• The world's richest man, who once said he would not donate to campaigns, has funneled tens of millions into re-electing the former president and has become a vocal surrogate for the MAGA movement.

More from Axios' Sunday coverage:

• Lindsey Graham to Republicans backing Harris: "What the hell are you doing?"
• How Israel decimated Hamas and Hezbollah leadership in three months
• Harris turns 60: How her age compares to past presidents