Free Republic

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who challenged a Teamsters boss to a fight last month, on Thursday slammed Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for “living off” his “daddy’s money” after Gaetz cited Mullin’s increase in wealth as a reason to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. “I hear @RepMattGaetz has criticism of hard-earned success — he should try building a business that gains value, it’s more gratifying than living off your daddy’s money,” Mullin posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Mullin was reacting to a graphic Gaetz reposted that showed Mullin’s net worth swelled from $12...

A super-PAC aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence has launched a new ad in Iowa accusing former President Donald Trump of being “an apologist for villains and dictators.” The advertisement, launched Thursday from Committed to America, a group Pence supports, includes clips of Trump shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. “America doesn’t stand with thugs and dictators. We confront them,” a narrator says in the ad as Trump’s footage plays. “Or at least we did.”

The filings also show that Pence has earned big sums on the speaking circuit, collecting a total of $3.4 million for 32 speeches between January 2022 and the end of April this year. Pence announced his candidacy for the White House in early June. The most lucrative engagement: A $550,000 honorarium for a February 2022 appearance at a world summit underwritten by the Universal Peace Federation in Seoul, South Korea. The group was established by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon – the Korean evangelist and businessman who founded the Unification Church – and his wife, Hak Ja Han. According...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that congressional leadership is in “widespread agreement” that the lame-duck session of Congress should pass an omnibus spending bill. On Tuesday, McConnell, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy met with President Joe Biden and discussed legislative priorities for the remainder of the year. “We’re going to work together, to fund, I hope, work together to fund the government, COVID, and war in Ukraine,” Biden said. “All controversial and consequential issues.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dinged fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul for being “an isolationist.” Last week, Paul managed to delay passage of a $40 billion aid package to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion. The Senate ultimately passed the measure on Thursday. “My colleague Senator Paul has always been – basically – an isolationist. He’s proud of it and believes that’s where America ought to be. That is a tiny percentage of the Senate Republican conference. We only had 11 votes against the package. I predict we will have even fewer votes opposed to the admission of Finland...