Free Republic

The Republican Party's pro-Israel allies are going all-out to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie. He's responded by making those attacks a centerpiece of his campaign. The GOP's mega-donor ranks are filled with backers of Israel, and they're showing they're willing to invest in defeating lawmakers who are critical of Israel. They're also aligning themselves with President Trump, who has singled out Massie (R-Ky.) — a rare congressional Republican Trump critic — for defeat. Massie has vocally criticized Israel's handling of the war in Gaza and voted against providing U.S. aid to Israel. He also skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's July...

Prince Andrew should share everything he knows about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the co-writer of Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoir has told the BBC. The book, Nobody's Girl, officially released in the UK on Tuesday, gives more details of Ms Giuffre's allegations about Prince Andrew - which he has always denied. Ahead of the release, co-author Amy Wallace told BBC Newsnight there was a period when Prince Andrew "indicated he was willing to help investigators in the US" but he was "never available, for some reason". "That's something he could still do," Ms Wallace - who spent four years writing...

President Donald Trump’s working lunch with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday turned acrimonious when the US leader insisted Ukraine make territorial concessions to Russia to end the war, according to European officials briefed on the meeting. Trump, who would later endorse a freeze in current battle lines as part of a peace settlement, grew frustrated and raised his voice multiple times, the officials said. The episode was the latest chapter in the fraught relationship between the two men, and amounted to another shift in Trump’s approach to how the war will be settled. Last month, after meeting Zelensky...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Missouri and Kansas are warning SNAP recipients about potential benefit losses if the government shutdown continues. On Monday, the Missouri Department of Social Services sent out a warning saying it will not be able to fund November SNAP benefits if the government doesn’t reopen. The department said it “encourages” people to stretch their October balance into the next month, “if possible.” Throughout the metro, thousands are preparing for the potential impact. Adolph Pratt, a Kansas City, Kansas resident who relies on SNAP benefits, said the potential loss would force difficult choices. “It’s going to make...

A San Antonio man is facing criminal charges after a series of social media posts in which he allegedly threatened to kill protesters attending the "No Kings" rally downtown, advising them to "say goodbye to your loved ones." Robert Flores, 66, was arrested Saturday and charged with making a terroristic threat. Authorities identified him as the user behind a Threads account used to threaten protesters, according to an affidavit supporting his arrest. ~snip~ "I'll run you (expletive) over and then go have coffee and breakfast at Jim's. You are the insignificant," read one post made Friday night. "All of you...

WASHINGTON — Thousands gathered in the nation’s capital on Saturday, rallying and repeating one refrain: “No kings.” They joined thousands of other gatherings around the country organized by Democratic groups and activists to protest President Donald Trump and his administration with a second round of “No Kings” rallies following an initial nationwide day of protest in June. While many protesters spoke to NBC News about their dissatisfaction with Trump, a plethora of left-leaning and liberal protesters also made one more thing clear: They’re not happy with their Democratic leaders, either. “I don’t have a lot of faith in the Democrats...

Some Democrats skeptical about their leadership’s hard-line stance against reopening the federal government privately acknowledge that they fear getting “hammered” by their liberal base if they vote for a Republican funding bill. Grassroots Democrats frustrated with the Trump administration have been demanding a fight, and on Saturday millions showed up at “No Kings” demonstrations across the country to protest the president’s government. In that context, Democrats know they will get hit hard by a number of voices on the left if they do not get something for opening the government. “People are going to get hammered” if they vote for...

Unicorns are supposed to be rare and mythical. But at Saturday’s No Kings protests I saw the largest outbreak in America outside a Lisa Frank store. They were everywhere, but I was surprised to see almost a dozen of them down in New Braunfels, Texas. As at many of the No Kings protests across the country, attendees embraced the example set by the taunting frog outside Portland’s ICE facility and came in outfits that you could find threatening in only the most silly and specific of contexts: Cookie Monster was there.But you don’t pass up a chance to meet a...

By the time the Pilsen Food Pantry opened on a recent morning, Ulysses Moreno had been there for two hours — with a line of people behind him that snaked around the corner. “This is a lifeline for me,” said Mr. Moreno, 39. He had lost his construction job a few days earlier, and with three teenagers at home, he wanted to make sure he could stock up. “Our food budget doesn’t stretch as far as it used to.” A few miles away, on Chicago’s glitzy Magnificent Mile, luxury hotels are bustling. Jewelry stores and designer boutiques do brisk business....

Virginia Republicans scored a monumental victory in 2021. After 12 years of sustained statewide losses, the party emerged from the wilderness and swept the three statewide races that year, led by outsider Glenn Youngkin, who became the commonwealth’s first Republican governor since Bob McDonnell left office in 2014.Virginia’s gubernatorial elections are unique in American politics in that no other state makes its governor a lame duck the moment he is sworn in, as term limits prohibit consecutive terms. No Virginia governor has ever run for reelection as an incumbent, although two governors have succeeded in winning nonconsecutive terms.The commonwealth’s proximity...

The analysis said the median estimate is that 5.2 million people took part, while the upper approximation is 8.2 million people. Newsweek has produced a map showing which states saw the highest turnout based on the crowdsourced estimates. It shows that New York had the highest estimated attendance, with almost 380,000 people estimated to have been at events in the state, followed by California and Illinois, where about 260,000 and 250,000 people are estimated to have attended events, respectively. States with the lowest turnout include Nebraska and South Dakota, with each of those two states estimated to have had only...

A California Highway Patrol cruiser was struck by shrapnel Saturday after an artillery round fired during a U.S. Marine Corps anniversary event exploded prematurely over Interstate 5 — a mishap officials described as “unusual and concerning.” The explosion occurred during a highly contentious ceremony attended by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Camp Pendleton, a sprawling base north of San Diego. The exercise, which featured live ordinance and aerial displays, was meant to officially commemorate the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary — and, unofficially, serve as a counterpoint to the nationwide “No Kings” demonstration against President Donald...

If the mainstream media is to be believed, this weekend’s No Kings protests were by far the largest ever. And we’re not talking just the largest No Kings protests. They are claiming it was the largest turnout for a single day of protests in the history of the United States — PERIOD. That’s a big claim. So if that’s true… why are there so many examples of the mainstream media using OLD or MANIPULATED footage in their coverage? Maybe, like so much else, the mainstream media is focused on propping up an agenda… rather than simply reporting the facts as...

Republican voices were mostly silent as No Kings rallies and marches against Trump administration policies unfurled on Saturday, many in the spirit of a street party that countered the “hate America” depiction advanced by senior members of the party. Instead of provocation, there were marching bands, huge banners with “we the people” references to the US constitution, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance. It was the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal...

Most Virginians have “accepted the apology” of state attorney general nominee Jay Jones for his disturbing, violent threats about a Republican legislator, a top Democrat is saying. However, recent polling and betting odds cast doubt on that claim. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin said in an interview published Friday in Politico that Jones’s violent texts in 2022 about killing Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert were “reckless and unacceptable.” However, he also said that Virginia voters were forgiving. “I believe that most Virginians have accepted that apology and that they’ll elect Jay Jones as the next attorney general,” Martin...

For years, Silicon Valley and Wall Street seemed to have a monopoly on ambition. Tech and finance were the dream industries, places where ambition met prestige and paychecks stretched into six figures. But in 2025, that dream looks different.According to a new Click Intelligence report, the most desired job in the world right now isn't in AI, crypto, or venture capital. It's nursing.The study analyzed global Google search data across four categories: 'how to be [job title]', '[job title] courses', '[job title] career opportunities', and '[job title] salary.' When those numbers were combined, 'nurse' came out on top with more...

More than 2,700 “No Kings Day” demonstrations are scheduled nationwide Saturday, four months after the first protests drew five million people. Organizers say Trump’s actions have escalated since June, including expanded immigration raids, prosecutions of political opponents and pressure on universities. Trump allies brand them “anti-American” When millions of demonstrators took to the streets in June for “No Kings Day” — depicting President Trump as a wannabe monarch intent on violating American democratic norms — it was still fairly early in his administration. The immigration raids in Los Angeles were just getting under way and Trump had deployed military troops...

Republicans’ fictional portrait is part of a strategy to stop the resistance before it flexes its growing power.You might find this hard to believe, but Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans are making stuff up. This is a go-to move when they fear their power and corrupt authoritarian plans are at risk, and that’s happening a lot lately. Now, with millions of people signed up to attend thousands of “No Kings” demonstrations Saturday across America, the GOP’s desperation meter is at DEFCON 1.The alarm is clear from the overwrought Republican leaders spouting hallucinatory talking points in which “No Kings” protests...

“Many of us Jews feel these evangelicals love us for the wrong reasons. Because of their end-times views, they want to bring us all here so that a global war will come, we will be killed, and their Messiah will arrive.” She paused, then gave an image so striking I will never forget it: “It feels like a man who fattens a duck, feeding her daily and taking care of her—not because he loves her, but so that one day he can slaughter her.” Her words capture the deep suspicion and unease many Jews feel toward the false love of...

DONALD Trump has deployed 10,000 US troops, nuclear-capable bombers, and America’s most elite special operations unit — the “Night Stalkers” — to the waters off Venezuela. The Caribbean is now bracing for its most explosive showdown in decades as dictator Nicolás Maduro whips his country into a war footing and vows to repel any US attack. In a dramatic escalation, three B-52 bombers — the same heavy bombers used in Iraq and Syria — flew for hours off Venezuela’s coast this week. Meanwhile, MH-6 Little Birds and MH-60 Black Hawks from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the...