Free Republic

Donald Trump continues to stand by controversial comments he made about Mexican immigrants as his standings in Republican primary polls improve despite increasing criticism. The presidential hopeful placed ahead of perceived front-runner Jeb Bush in a new aggregated 'poll of polls' with 13.6 per cent support compared to the former Florida governor's 13.3. The rise comes as public figures and businesses continue to admonish Trump because of the comments saying that those crossing the border from Mexico illegally were 'rapists'. Former Republican candidate Mitt Romney told CNN Saturday that the businessman 'made a severe error in saying what he did...

Donald Trump didn’t make any comments about “Mexican-Americans,” he made them about illegal aliens. Which makes it quite clear Romney believes Mexican illegal aliens have a right to be here and have a right to citizenship and voting, and indeed already are Americans, hyphenated in his speech as “Mexican-Americans,” like the term “African Americans.” The only other possibility is that Romney’s such a lowlife he’s knowingly and intentionally lying about what Trump said when he claims Trump was talking about “Mexican-Americans,” in order to make it look like Trump was criticizing ALL Mexicans in the U.S. In other words, Romney...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney attacked real estate mogul and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday, telling a CNN reporter he thinks Trump’s remarks on illegal immigrants were a “severe error.” “Do you think Donald Trump’s comments on Mexicans have hurt the Republican Party?” a reporter asked Romney in video carried on CNN on Saturday. “Yes, I think he made a severe error in saying what he did about Mexican-Americans,” Romney replied. “And it’s unfortunate.” “Do you think the candidates should speak up about that?” the reporter followed up. “I think a number of them have,” Romney replied.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and his wife, Jeanette, will join New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Christie's wife, Mary Pat, tonight at the Romney estate on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee, the Washington Post reports. The two couples will be overnight guests of Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at his 11-acre estate in Wolfeboro, N.H., the Post said. The newspaper quoted an unnamed Romney aide as saying the former GOP presidential candidate heard the Rubios and the Christies would be in Wolfeboro for the holiday weekend, so he invited them to spend the evening with him and his wife, Ann....

2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney will be hosting two rival Republican presidential contenders at a holiday sleepover Friday evening. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will both be staying over at Romney’s property in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, an aide to Romney confirmed. The aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of what the aide called the private nature of the event, said the former governor and his wife opened their home to the Christie and Rubio families after hearing they would be in town for the holiday weekend. Both candidates are scheduled to march...

During the re-election cycle in 2012, President Obama sent seismic shock waves through the news media when he became the first American president to publicly support marriage equality. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court sided with the president’s views in a 5-4 decision, sending a ruling “like a thunderbolt” through American society in favor of marriage equality in all 50 states[1]. As the longtime advisor, David Axelrod revealed in his recent book[2] that candidate-Obama was in favor of same-sex marriage (when running for the US Senate[3]) before he was against it (while running for the Presidency[4]), and then he...

Eleven percent of New Hampshire's conservatives favor crony capitalist, eminent domain abuser, supporter of single-payer health care, and all-around-buffoon, Donald Trump for president. But they don't really. A fraction of the Republican electorate is having some weird fun with the conventions and hypocrisies of our politics. Other conservatives and candidates should resist the temptation to look down on people who say they support Trump. And part of not looking down on these Trump supporters (who are not really Trump supporters), requires understanding Trump correctly . While there have been many articles critical of Trump, National Review's Jack Fowler probably got...

Message of King v. Burwell to Republicans: It’s over. With the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling, Obamacare is forever part of the country’s social and economic fabric. Now it’s time to celebrate what that represents. The principle that health care is a right, not a privilege, as President Obama exulted. And that it might not have happened without a Republican named Mitt Romney. The path to achieving near universal health care coverage came about because Romney, then governor of Massachusetts, worked with Ted Kennedy, a liberal US senator, to make it happen. They worked from two premises: Society has an obligation...

Mitt Romney is asserting himself as a leader of the Republican Party at a time when the GOP lacks a true standard-bearer. As the huge field of Republican contenders begins the long slog to the party’s 2016 nomination, Romney is working to connect select candidates with his vast political network, urging the party to learn from his past mistakes, attacking Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and taking forceful stances on controversial issues. Last week, the former Massachusetts governor was the first major Republican to call for the removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina Capitol after...

The battle flag of Robert E. LeeÂ’s Army of Northern Virginia, which is the flag most commonly referred to as the Confederate flag, has long been a symbol that divides the country. While its display has always been contentious, renewed anger arose after Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old male who posed with the flag several times in his manifesto, went into CharlestonÂ’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and murdered nine innocent people over their race. The furor over the flag was more pronounced due to the fact that it still flew high over South CarolinaÂ’s capital, less than a two-hour...

Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush say South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from the statehouse but Ted Cruz disagrees.Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has called for the immediate removal of the Confederate battle flag from outside the South Carolina Statehouse, forcing the 2016 Republican presidential contenders to declare their positions on the issue. Some still steered clear from the sensitive debate, even after the shooting deaths of nine people in a historic African-American church in Charleston further exposed the raw emotions about the flying the flag of the secessionist, pro-slavery Southern states in the 1861-65 American Civil War. Many...

On June 20 former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney called for South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag from their state Capitol grounds in Columbia. His call comes in the wake of the heinous attack on Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. It follows a photo of the suspected gunman, Dylann Roof, in which Roof is seen leaning against his car with a Confederate flag license plate visible on the front of his vehicle being widely circulated. Here were Romney’s exact words: “Take down the Confederate Flag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred....

From immigration and the “Latino registration machine” to the GOP’s apparent inability to recognize the racial aspects of the Charleston church shooting, Real Time host Bill Maher had a field day with his panelists on Friday night’s show. Yet it’s the “Overtime” segment’s extra nuggets that made for some of the most WTF-worthy viewing, especially for this reaction from MSNBC’s Joy Reid: Of all the possible conversation topics, what could have triggered such a reaction from Reid? Oh nothing, really — just guest Ann Coulter‘s funny-but-serious answer to Maher’s question about “which Republican candidate has the best chance of winning...

On June 20 former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney called for South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag from their state Capitol grounds in Columbia. His call comes in the wake of the heinous attack on Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. It follows a photo of the suspected gunman, Dylann Roof, in which Roof is seen leaning against his car with a Confederate flag license plate visible on the front of his vehicle being widely circulated. Here were Romney’s exact words: “Take down the Confederate Flag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred....

JOHNSTON, Iowa – Sen. Ted Cruz says whether or not South Carolina removes the Confederate flag from a state house memorial is an issue for the state to decide and that he sees “both sides” of the debate. In an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday, Cruz (R-Tex.) said that he understands why people equate the flag with both racial oppression and historical traditions. “I understand the passions that this debate evokes on both sides,” the GOP presidential hopeful said. “Both those who see a history of racial oppression and a history of slavery, which is the original sin...

Mitt Romney invited Obama political strategist David Axelrod to address a political gathering in Utah last week. The event was officially hosted by Romney and Solamere Capital, the investment firm whose executive committee he chairs, and was designed to introduce a host of GOP presidential contenders to wealthy donors. However, some notable names were apparently left off the guest list. They include announced candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Carson, Rick Santorum, and Mike Huckabee. Jeb Bush, who was invited, did not attend because he was in Europe. But three announced candidates—Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Carly Fiorina and Lindsay Graham—and...

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) said on Sunday that Republicans should not doubt the conservative credentials of possible GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush. Romney argued that Bush, Florida’s former governor, would proudly represent conservative values should he seek the White House in 2016. “Governor Bush is a man of integrity,” Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “He has very strong record,” he said. “He doesn’t have to speak his way into conservatism, he’s lived conservatism.” Romney’s praise comes as Bush weighs an Oval Office bid next election cycle. He is expected to...

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney listed some of his favorite contenders for the party's 2016 nomination Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," but notably left off a few big names. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and John Kasich were all name-checked by the former Massachusetts governor — but notably Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Chris Christie were not. This past weekend Romney hosted a summit in Utah that attracted some potential Republican nominees. Friday night, Romney said while there are more than a handful in the Republican field, he has his eye on a select few. "I think...

Don’t dump on my dream, okay? I took enough abuse last night for being man enough to admit that a pizza with pigs in a blanket in place of the crust sounds kind of good, come to think of it. You know what else sounds good? A battle-royal primary where Marco Rubio is throwing chairs at Rand Paul and Scott Walker is smashing Ted Cruz’s head into the turnbuckle and suddenly, “Hey wait, that’s Mitt Romney’s music.” I’m tired of being punished for my bravery in uttering difficult truths. Robert Costa ✔ ‎@costareports Mitt donor whisperer Spencer Zwick meets the...

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Govs. Scott Walker and Chris Christie said presidential rivals in the Senate don't do anything. Sen. Marco Rubio denounced "old ways" in an indirect slap at older contenders. Sen. Lindsey Graham said his party may be going down a "death spiral" if it doesn't embrace minority and younger voters. In fighting for attention Friday at a luxury mountainside donor retreat convened by 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, several 2016 contenders let loose some elbows at each other. Most did not name names, but Christie did. "If you want to know how little they know," he...