Free Republic

A stunning new poll by The Heartland Institute’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center and Rasmussen Reports reveals that 51% of young Americans who are likely to vote in the next presidential election would like to see a democratic socialist in the Oval Office. The survey found that nearly three-in-10 young Americans who voted for President Trump in 2024 would prefer a democratic socialist win the presidency in 2028. Those earning less than $100,000 per year and those earning $200,000 or more also voiced strong support for a democratic socialist in the White House whereas the only income cohort to...

More Perfect University (MPUniversity), founded by the liberal media group “More Perfect Union,” made its big launch...saying students in all 50 states joined MPUniversity in the six days leading up to it. The launch featured a livestream and interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose advisors founded More Perfect Union. “Mainstream media, politicians, and universities are bowing down to the 1%. We’re organizing on college campuses to fight corporate greed and build student power,” MPUniversity said in a post on X. The group will do on-campus events and debates while creating an online community through discord and email. It will...

The conventional liberal take on the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais to limit the use of race in drawing congressional districts is that it is a defeat for minority political influence… But the fact that it will no longer be permitted doesn’t mean that Black voters will necessarily have less influence. They could even have more. The key to understanding why is the tried-and-true power of the swing voter… The alternative to race-based districts, after all, is those that are “geographically compact”—in which the shared concerns of neighbors about their communities are at issue. Those could include race-related...

In 2024, President Donald Trump won the White House buoyed by historic support among Hispanic voters, diversifying the GOP’s coalition and flipping Democratic strongholds like South Texas. Two years later, a crop of Hispanic Republican candidates in Texas will aim to solidify Trump’s gains in defiance of the midterm headwinds facing the GOP this fall. The balance of the U.S. House could turn on whether they succeed... As many as four of the five Democratic seats targeted by GOP redistricting could feature Hispanic GOP nominees, while two of Democrats’ top targets will be defended by Hispanic Republican candidates. In all...

In a report from The Bulwark on Republican sentiment on soaring gas prices… Cornyn, R-TX, said the hike in gas is a "small price to pay" to continue the war. "If the American people understood," Cornyn said, "they would certainly agree." “After 40 years in public office, John Cornyn still doesn’t understand that working Texans are drowning because DC politicians like him are driving up the cost of everything," said Talarico campaign spokesperson J.T. Ennis in a news release… Cornyn is set to face Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May 26 runoff. The winner of that contest will face...

I hear a lot from young people about their hopes, their dreams, and their fears. You see, young people are idealists. They respond to vision. For the past four years, they’ve seen the vision of the Biden-Harris regime. That vision is you’ll own nothing and be happy. The Democrats say instead of owning a home, you’ll rent a 400 square foot studio apartment. Instead of owning a car, you’ll rent a scooter using some app. Their vision is this, limit your dreams, give up, aim lower, be content with less. If you’re a twenty-something in America, life has been really...

Spencer Pratt is calling out politicians he says are corrupt as he continues to campaign for California’s mayoral election. The political candidate revealed a new advertisement promoting his run for mayor, sharing the video to his X account on Wednesday, April 29, and simply writing: “They not like us.” “This is where Mayor [Karen] Bass lives. You notice something?” the Hills alum, 42, began in the video ad, pointing to a house allegedly owned by the current California mayor, 72. “Or here, where [Los Angeles city councilmember] Nithya Raman’s $3 million mansion sits,” he said. “They don’t have to live...

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, one of President Donald Trump’s most influential but least public-facing advisers, launched an X account Tuesday to share updates from inside the administration. "I’m joining X to share occasional updates about the work we do at the White House. We are relentlessly focusing on advancing President Trump’s agenda and delivering on promises to the American people," her first post read. "I welcome different viewpoints. Follow along for insights and information." Her newly formed account has amassed nearly 300,000 followers since its launch this week. Wiles is seen very often with the president, sitting...

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D, Massachusetts) and Josh Hawley (R, Missouri) introduced the Break Up Big Medicine Act, legislation aimed at prohibiting the joint ownership of health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), providers, and wholesalers to reduce health care costs and restore competition... The legislation comes amid growing concerns about consolidation in the health care industry. In the US, 3 PBMs currently manage 80% of prescription drug claims, 2 and 3 wholesalers control 98% of prescription drug distribution... These entities are often vertically integrated, meaning a single parent company can own every component of the health care supply chain, from the...

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) is pushing back on a Republican proposal to spend up to $400 million in federal funds on President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom, citing the nation’s mounting debt and deficit spending. Scott’s comments came after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced legislation Monday that would help finance the ballroom project with federal dollars. Graham argued the facility would serve security and operational purposes beyond hosting events. “Underneath it will be a lot of military stuff. There will be a Secret Service annex, and we pay for it by offsetting it with customs fees,” Graham said at...

The president of Turning Point USA’s University of Georgia chapter says the organization has strayed from the mission it had under the leadership of Charlie Kirk. Caroline Mattox wrote on Instagram that she could not in good conscience stay with an organization that has “strayed so far from its original purpose and principles.” Mattox is not the first TPUSA chapter president to express dissatisfaction with the organization’s current direction. The University of Arkansas chapter cut ties with TPUSA last month. Former President Dino Fantegrossi also expressed the sentiment that TPUSA had strayed from its original mission.

Turning Point USA CEO and chair Erika Kirk helped organize the White House listening session this month that put disgruntled Make America Healthy Again advocates in the same room with President Donald Trump, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and their leading advisers, according to two people inside the Trump administration and two people familiar with the meeting, granted anonymity to discuss the details. It’s one of the first and most prominent examples of Kirk helping the Trump administration keep its coalition together ahead of what is expected to be a difficult midterm election cycle. Some of Kirk' supporters see...

Leaders of the Make America Healthy Again movement have pitched themselves as a political force that will make or break GOP prospects in the midterms. But they have yet to make a splash in the only Senate primary where they have entered the fray — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy’s battle to fend off two challengers to his Louisiana seat... Defeating Cassidy — arguably the highest-profile Republican to challenge Kennedy’s rhetoric and policies on vaccines — would be a coup for the nascent movement... MAHA PAC leader Tony Lyons said his group is the largest donor to Letlow’s campaign and her...

Derek Dooley is trying to pull off a tricky balancing act as he campaigns for the U.S. Senate: run against Democrat Jon Ossoff while waging war on Washington itself. The former football coach sharpened that message with the launch of his first TV ad, timed to promote his campaign against U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins just before early voting begins next week... “D.C. politicians focus on getting rich and famous, and never on who hired them, which is you,” Dooley says in the spot. “And as a football coach for 30 years, I can spot these ‘me first’...

The UNC Sheps Center, which tracks rural hospital infrastructure in the United States, has documented 195 rural hospitals that have closed or converted to outpatient facilities since January 2005. Six are in Pennsylvania. Closures have far outpaced the opening of new rural hospitals during this period. As a physician who has trained in rural communities and a researcher who studies community well-being and public health, we see that every rural hospital closure exerts a domino effect on surrounding communities and residents. This can be difficult to quantify but manifests as lost jobs and economic decline, poorer health and a pervasive...

President Donald Trump announced that the “Strait of Hormuz is fully open and ready for business” during his appearance Friday at a Turning Point USA rally in Phoenix... He also promised to release the Pentagon study on UFOs “very, very soon...I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people. You’re really into that,” the president said, about UFOs. “I don’t know if I am.”... The president touted his first year in office as “the most successful first year of any administration in the history” after ending eight wars. He included securing the southern border among his accomplishments....

Ron DeSantis isn’t committing to making another run for the presidency, saying he’s “got to run through the tape” and cautioning that it would make little sense to plan too concretely in such a dynamic environment. ..."Think of all the new things we’re talking about right now with what’s going on in the world and everything just in the last two months. And so who knows how all this stuff evolves?” Yet he warns that the midterm elections will be tough for his party. “I think the way the winds are blowing currently, I don’t think it’s insurmountable, but I...

“I recognize that young voters do not love the policy we have in the Middle East, OK,” the vice president said. “I understand.” Vance mapped out the administration’s successes — from Trump’s immigration agenda to economic policies — before adding, “I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue. What I’m saying is don’t get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic.” “Get more involved. Make your voice heard even more,” he added. “That’s how we ultimately take the country back.”

Conservative activist Riley Gaines brushed off President Donald Trump's criticism of her on Monday, saying she does "nothing for the approval of man." Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, was one of the many Trump supporters critical of an AI-generated image the president shared on social media on Sunday portraying himself as a Jesus-like figure. Trump has since deleted the post. "Seriously, I cannot understand why he'd post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?" she wrote on X on Monday, commenting on the image. "Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would...

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday said Texas Republicans are “going to have a tough time” holding onto their majority in the state House this fall, the latest and perhaps most notable sign yet of GOP unease about the midterm elections. Speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual conference in Austin, Patrick said it is imperative for the loser of Republicans’ rancorous Senate primary runoff — whether it’s U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton — to support the winner against Democratic candidate James Talarico. The Austin state representative locked up his party’s nomination in March and...