Free Republic

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen the person who will do battle with the White House press corps for his second term. On Friday, Trump announced in a statement that Karoline Leavitt, the 27-year-old national press secretary of his presidential campaign, would serve as his press secretary for his upcoming administration. She will become the youngest person ever to hold the position. The previous youngest press secretary was the late Ron Ziegler, who served under former President Richard Nixon

Former President Mike Pence is urging Senate Republicans to block Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination as the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary. President-elect Donald Trump, Pence's former running mate, announced Kennedy's nomination on Thursday, a decision that has raised concerns from public health experts. Kennedy, a former 2024 presidential candidate who went on to back Trump's campaign, has been incredibly critical of vaccinations, including suggesting that childhood vaccines are linked to autism diagnosis. Pence, however, took a different issue with Kennedy's appointment, saying in a statement Friday that making Kennedy the HHS secretary would be "an abrupt departure from...

A graduate student at a Michigan university experienced a chilling interaction with Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini. What began as a seemingly routine academic inquiry turned into a nightmarish scenario when the chatbot delivered a disturbing and threatening message, CBS News reported. The 29-year-old student, who was working on a project about “Challenges and Solutions for Aging Adults,” sought the AI’s assistance. Query: Nearly 10 million children in the United States live in a grandparent headed household, and of these children , around 20% are being raised without their parents in the household. Question 15 options:… AI Response: This is for...

On the edge of Peru's coastal desert, a remote fishing town where a third of all residents have no running water is being transformed into a huge deep-water port to cash in on the inexorable rise of Chinese interest in resource-rich South America. The megaport of Chancay, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is turning this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into an important node of the global economy. China's President Xi Jinping inaugurates the port Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru. The development — expected to encompass 15 quays and a...

DONALD J. TRUMPPresident, Commander-in-ChiefJ.D. VANCEVice-President, President of the SenateSUZIE WILES Chief of Staff WILLIAM McGINLEY White House Counsel STEPHEN MILLER Deputy Chief of Staff MICHAEL WALTZ National Security AdvisorPETE HEGSETHSec. of DefenceMARCO RUBIOSec. of StateELISE STEFANIKAmb. to United NationsMIKE HUCKABEEAmb. to IsraelSTEVE WITKOFF Middle East Envoy KRISTI NOEMSec. of Homeland SecurityTOM HOMAN Border CzarJOHN RATCLIFFE CIA Director NEW SINCE FIRST REPORTELON MUSKCo-Sec. of Govt. Efficiency VIVEK RAMASWAMY Co-Sec. of Govt. Efficiency SCOTT BESSENT Sec. of Treasury LEE ZELDIN EPA Administrator TULSI GABBARD Dir. of National Intelligence MATT GAETZ Attorney GeneralROUND 3ROBERT F. KENNEDY Jr. Sec. of Health & Human Services...

New Yorkers aren’t letting Whoopi Goldberg’s sourpuss act spoil their favorite spot for sweet treats, after she put a local bakery on blast on national TV, alleging they refused to serve her because of her lefty political beliefs. “I think it’s ridiculous. Why would she come all the way to Staten Island for her cupcake? To make an issue? They’ve been here forever,” Deborah Bernaz, 68, said of the comic’s claims against the beloved 145-year-old Holtermann’s Bakery on Staten Island.... The actress and “The View” co-host went into full victim mode on Wednesday’s broadcast, grousing that Holtermann’s wouldn’t sell her...

t’s hard to say where fans of cult classic movie riffing series Mystery Science Theater 3000 stand these days, but at least one of their beloved holiday comforts can still be counted on: Turkey Day. The series is still hanging in limbo, a year after the failure of another large-scale crowdfunding campaign to produce a 14th season of the series stalled out. MST3K has had four or five distinct, different homes or eras at this point, and its pop-cultural relevance has never really faded, but its future is very much in doubt. Still, it’s unabashedly good news to see that...

Seattle Seahawks starting center Connor Williams has retired from the NFL due to personal reasons, head coach Mike Macdonald revealed Friday. 'So Connor early this week decided to retire. Personal reasons, and we respect that,' Macdonald told reporters. 'Wish him the best, and we've got to move forward.' Asked if he expects Williams to change his mind, Macdonald expressed doubts.'I don't believe so,' Macdonald said. 'We will honor his wishes and keep all those reasons and conversations private for obvious reasons.' The 27-year-old Williams will be replaced in the starting lineup by second-year player Olu Oluwatimi. Seattle heads to Santa...

Karoline Leavitt is the new White House Press Secretary. I propose that she invite a rotating corp to substitute for her when she takes a vacation. 1. Cyrus 2. Conner Mcgregor 3. Dana Loesch 4. Benny Johnson 5. Alex Jones 6. Rhonda Rousey 7. Gina Carajo 8. Hulk Hogan 9. Sylvester Stallone 10. Jake Paul 11. Mike Tyson

This earns President Trump a space on Mount Rushmore. --Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Six minute thirty-six second video.)

EXCLUSIVE: Investigative Journalist Lara Logan Joins Alex Jones To Defend Freedom Of Speech

A Georgia mom, 41-year-old Brittany Patterson, was arrested and charged with endangering her son after her 10-year-old went for an unsupervised walk less than a mile from their home. On October 30, while Patterson was taking one of her other sons to a medical appointment, she received a call from the Fannin County Sheriff’s Department informing her that her son, Soren, had wandered into town alone from their rural home. In an interview with NBC, Patterson defended her decision, stating, “It’s not a super dangerous or even dangerous at all stretch of road,” and added, “I wasn’t terrified for him...

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is ticking off some House Democrats for publicly opining on what her party did wrong in 2024.Why it matters: Pelosi needs to let House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) lead the caucus, Democrats tell Axios. "She needs to take a seat," said one senior Democratic lawmaker. "Making scattershot comments is not just unhelpful, it's damaging," said the lawmaker. "Hakeem has been tremendously graceful and respectful of her, but I don't think she is being respectful of him," said a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.Both lawmakers insisted on anonymity. Pelosi still instills fear in...

Emails and tool-tracking software weren't heeded, but nothing scary happened - except to the nylon toolAn Airbus A380 operated by Australian airline Qantas clocked over 290 hours of flight time despite a tool having been left inside one of its engines, according to a report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The 1.25 meter nylon rod, a "turning tool", was used during an inspection of the left outer engine's intermediate-pressure compressor on December 6 of last year, during a three-day routine maintenance check at Los Angeles Airport (LAX). It was left in the engine by a maintenance worker who...

U.S. — In the aftermath of what was a bitter and contentious presidential election season, signs of national unity began to appear, as Democrats and Republicans across the country found common ground in rooting for Jake Paul to get punched in the face. Though members of each party had spent the last several years aggressively seeking to tear each other apart due to differing views on a wide range of political and social issues, they discovered they all shared a deep-seated desire to see Jake Paul get obliterated by Mike Tyson. "It's beautiful to see our nation coming together again,"...

How did early hunter-gatherers manage to survive in some of the most inhospitable places on Earth, and could pieces of one of the world's oldest pots hold a clue?Prof Alice Roberts journeys to Asia, the world's greatest land mass, and attempts to replicate ancient survival techniques that appear to have been passed down through many generations. With little precedent and only the most primitive resources available, our ancestors' innovation and experimentation was vital for their success.This clip is from Incredible Human Journey (2009).What Turned Hunter-Gatherers Into Empire Builders? | 4:44BBC Timestamp | 785K subscribers | 6,728 views | November 13,...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized a call between Germany’s chancellor and Russian President Vladimir Putin as opening a “Pandora’s box” that only works to undermine efforts to isolate Russia’s leader. “This is exactly what Putin has been wanting for a long time: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation, Russia’s isolation, and to have normal negotiations that will not end in anything,” Zelensky said about Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s call. The conversation on Friday was the first time Scholz had spoken with Putin in two years. It comes as the German leader gears up for a snap...

Nursing student Laken Riley's mother sobbed as the chilling 911 call made moments before her death was revealed during the trial of an illegal migrant accused of killing her. Allyson Phillips covered her face with a tissue and broke down as the Athens-Clark County court was told that 22-year-old Riley somehow managed to activate the SOS alert on her phone at 9.11am the day of her death. Prosecutors allege in that moment on February 22, 26-year-old undocumented migrant Jose Antonio Ibarra stopped her in her tracks as she went for a run near the University of Georgia campus. The court...

The Pennsylvania senator spoke to NBC News about what went wrong for his party in 2024 and how it should approach the future Trump administration. In the closing weeks of the presidential campaign, Sen. John Fetterman did something different than other Democrats. He went on Joe Rogan’s podcast, a show Democrats had been urging Vice President Kamala Harris to do — and the kind of appearance Democrats feel their candidates need to get more comfortable making in the current media environment. But Fetterman, who built a blunt, says-what-he-means brand, said Democratic setbacks in 2024 had more to do with unpopular...

Bucks County Commissioners openly defied the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday by moving to count provisional ballots missing a signature as Democrats and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) challenge Senator-elect Dave McCormick’s (R-PA) election victory. Bucks County Board of Commissioners Chair Robert J. Harvie Jr. (D) and Vice Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D) decided to count provisional ballots that were missing a signature in one of two places, which officials call “block two” and “block four.” The third commissioner, Gene DiGirolamo (R), was the lone dissenting voice to oppose the Democrats’ challenge to count the ballots.