Free Republic

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Monday said Americans view Vice President Harris as “a bit of a ding-dong,” a comment that was met with some pushback from Fox News host Neil Cavuto. Kennedy fired off a series of attacks against Harris on Fox News’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” repeatedly claiming polls show that Americans view Harris as “a bit of a ding-dong.” Cavuto continued to push back on Kennedy’s comments, questioning how beneficial it was for the senator and other Republicans to call the vice president names. “Margaret Thatcher didn’t giggle, Golda Meir didn’t giggle. When you look at...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said it was an “honor” to be floated as Vice President Harris’s running mate while dodging questions about whether he has received vetting materials. “Well, I’m not speaking on anything personal on this. I think being mentioned is certainly an honor,” Walz told CNN’s Jake Tapper when asked if he had received vetting materials to be the vice presidential candidate.

Former chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci revealed in a forthcoming book that former President Trump dropped expletives during a 2020 phone call with him during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci recounted in a new autobiography that Trump dropped numerous expletives in the call just three months into the pandemic, according to reports from The New York Times and The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast reported that the rants included Trump screaming f-bombs at Fauci multiple times, according to the copy of the book obtained by the outlet. “The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted Sunday that the Supreme Court will send former President Trump’s immunity case back to the lower courts. “Well, I think the court’s gonna find that presidential immunity exists for President Trump like every other president, but you got to be within the scope of being president. I think they’ll send it back to the lower courts to find out exactly what actions fall within presidential immunity and what are considered personal. I think that’s the way this will end — there will be some immunity for some of the actions,” Graham said on CNN’s “State...

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he voted against additional aid to Israel to oppose a “blank check” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Khanna was one of the 37 Democrats who voted against sending more funding to Israel on Saturday amid its ongoing war in Gaza. The House approved a long-awaited foreign aid package on Saturday that includes more funding for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Sunday that the United States is “not funding” war in his country, emphasizing that the U.S. is helping protect democracy throughout the region. NBC host Kristen Welker asked Zelensky on “Meet the Press” how long Americans can expect to fund the war in Ukraine,” noting that there has been some strong opposition to sending additional aid to the country. Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine is doing the fighting and the U.S. is only providing the munitions.

President Biden is narrowly leading former President Trump by 4 points in a new survey of young voters — a key demographic Biden carried in 2020. The Axios-Generation Lab survey of voters under 35 found that 52 percent of respondents would vote for Biden if the election was held today, while 48 percent would back Trump. The survey noted that 70 percent of respondents said they were definitely planning or likely going to vote, while 30 percent said they were unlikely or not planning on voting. It is the latest of numerous polls showing a close race between Biden and...

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took aim at House Republicans on Wednesday for their attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “Understand this: Everything they do is about Donald Trump. He’s the puppeteer,” she said in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, discussing the GOP’s failed impeachment effort Tuesday. “Sadly, as I’ve always said, he’s shining a light on the strings, and it looks terrible. Everything’s about him.” “So what they’re trying to do — Mayorkas, who is a distinguished public servant, who has honored the law and the policy, executed the law — is they’re trying to cheapen...

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) slammed her colleagues who voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Tuesday over her comments on the Israel-Hamas war that sparked criticism on both sides of the aisle. “Shame on every Member who voted to censure @RepRashida. 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,000 children, & your focus is on trying to silence the only Palestinian-American in Congress. History will prove you were wrong,” Bush wrote Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

After a month of scorching heat across the globe, scientists have officially labeled July as the hottest month on record in world history. Copernicus Climate Change Service, a division of the European Union’s space program, announced Tuesday that July’s global average temperature was about 62.51 degrees Fahrenheit. This broke the previous monthly record of about 61.93 degrees Fahrenheit — set in July 2019. “Record-breaking temperatures are part of the trend of drastic increases in global temperatures. Anthropogenic emissions are ultimately the main driver of these rising temperatures,” Copernicus Climate Change Service Director Carlo Buontempo said in a statement. “July’s record...

President Trump, who has now been indicted over his handling of classified records, said in 2016 that a president under an indictment would cause a constitutional crisis, statements first noted by a CNN KFile review. Trump made the comments about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a rally in Reno, Nev., on Nov. 5, 2016, KFILE noted. “We could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and ultimately a criminal trial,” Trump said at the rally. “It would grind government to a halt.” Trump’s remarks came just days after then-FBI director James Comey announced that the bureau was re-launching...

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that it was “shameful” that Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are so “cavalier” about ethics. “Well, I think they have the opportunity to write some ethics rules for themselves. And that’s what the chief justice said we can do it ourselves. I see no action being taken there. But nonetheless, that’s what they say,” she said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki. “But I give credit to Senator [Sheldon] Whitehouse (D-R.I.), with the majority in the Senate, he is able to point out what needs to be done to have...

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said former President Trump’s rhetoric regarding his possible indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is “more overt and blatant” than his language leading up to Jan. 6. “Well, I think it’s a concern, the rhetoric that he’s using today is not dissimilar to the type of rhetoric he used prior to January 6. In fact, in some ways, it’s more overt and blatant than the events leading up to January 6,” Lofgren told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Sunday. Lofgren, who served on the Jan. 6 House select committee, noted that Trump posted a photo of...

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that he will decide on whether to make another bid for the presidency in the next 45 to 60 days. “I think running for president of the United States is an intensely personal decision. And that’s one that anybody who’s considering it should have the right to make on their own regardless of anybody else’s thoughts on it,” Christine told the Washington Examiner. Christie, who ran for his party’s nomination in 2016, told the Washington Examiner that the Republican Party should have a “robust primary” given the losses the party suffered over...

Russian officials railed against Ukraine’s talk of changing Russia’s official name to Muscovy, after a Ukrainian petition regarding a potential name change garnered 25,000 signatures. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly instructed Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal to “carefully” consider renaming Russia to Muscovy, accounting for consequences under international law and whether it was possible in historical and cultural contexts. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted to Telegram on Saturday that Zelensky is trying to create an “anti-Russia Ukraine.”

The Biden administration announced on Monday that it plans to end on May 11 a pair of emergency designations implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.... Here are three things that could be undone with the lifting of the national and public health emergencies. Title 42 Title 42 was a policy implemented by the Trump administration that allowed Border Patrol officials to expel foreign nationals at the border, citing public health protections related to the pandemic.... Medicare and Medicaid beneficiary benefits ...With the end of the public health emergency, Americans will need to start paying for COVID-19 tests and treatments such as...

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday that a lot of the U.S.’s military aid to Ukraine “could have been done sooner.” “I think the only thing I would have said is that a lot of this could have been done sooner,” Gates said when asked by Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he would have advised President Biden to do anything differently. “And, you know, they’re talking about potentially being six months, a year or more before the Abrams tanks get there,” he added. “I think the key thing about the Abrams tank decision was that...

Evangelical pastor Franklin Graham, a longtime supporter of former President Trump, says he will not endorse Trump — or any candidate — in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. “I’m going to stay out of it until after the primaries have finished,” Graham told CBS News on Friday at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. Graham also told CBS News that it was an “easy decision” not to endorse someone during the 2024 primaries. CBS noted Graham doesn’t generally endorse primary candidates, but his remarks come as tensions have been rising between evangelical groups and Trump in the months...

The George W. Bush Institute is calling on the United States and its allies increase their aid to Ukraine and address the ongoing refugee crisis. The institute released a series of policy recommendations to the Biden administration and Congress on Wednesday, including international proposals regarding the war in Ukraine and domestic recommendations about immigration laws and education. The organization recommended sending more aid to Ukraine, like tanks, fighter jets and missile and air defense systems, saying the aid the U.S. has already sent to the country is “not enough.” “Helping Ukraine push out all Russian occupying and invading forces from...