Free Republic

On the cusp of Vladimir Putin’s act of naked aggression against the sovereign country of Ukraine, the most important Republican in the country praised the Russian autocrat for his “genius.” Former President Donald Trump’s comments were another instance of his shockingly favorable and morally bankrupt statements about Vladimir Putin over the years. Asked in a radio interview what had gone wrong that Putin recognized the independence of two Ukrainian breakaway regions on President Biden’s watch, Trump couldn’t muster one remotely appropriate sentiment. He immediately cited “the rigged election” of 2020, an obsession of his that is so all-consuming, it makes...

The past and current master of the GOP sees a future threat arising. [cut] “It was a mistake to ever embrace Donald Trump, and now we want to be the party of Adam Kinzinger.” [cut] Would DeSantis be audacious enough to run against Trump in 2024? The case against waiting is that it’s extremely unlikely that the governor can maintain his exalted status in the party until 2028. On the other hand, the case against running in 2024 is that it involves the enormous risk of encountering the business end of the Trump buzz saw, which could change DeSantis’s image...

It was only a matter of time before Ron DeSantis’ rising star ran into the unmovable object of Donald Trump’s will to continue to dominate the GOP. A spate of recent news stories has focused on the proto-feud between the past president with future ambitions, and the protégé who rode his endorsement to victory in a Florida GOP gubernatorial primary and has big ambitions of his own. The scale of the clash shouldn’t be exaggerated — so far it mostly consists of muttering from Mar-a-Lago, and speculation that both men could end up throwing their hats in the 2024 ring....