Free Republic

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Republican incumbent Joe Wilson leads Democratic nominee Zyon Khalifa by about 3,000 votes in the race for South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District, and election officials say the results are close enough that a recount could follow.

Post election here at Free Republic is my favorite time of the year.

Democrats won a massive victory on Tuesday, sweeping to power in both houses of Congress. Critics of President Donald Trump are blaming Republican losses on his failures — and that’s fair. But what really drove the “blue wave” was Trump’s success. That’s because Trump followed through on almost every promise he made to voters in 2024. He secured the border. You can argue that his Immigration and Border Enforcement (ICE) raids were overzealous. But enforcing laws is never a pleasant sight. He did it anyway. He confronted Iran. That meant higher gas prices. It also cost billions of dollars. But...

President Donald Trump told Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum Wednesday that he could work with Democrats on immigration following a midterm sweep that gave Democrats control of the House of Representatives and Senate.Republicans lost the House and Senate as Democrats swept multiple races in the South and Midwest, including flipping open seats in Iowa, North Carolina and Texas while ousting incumbents in Ohio, Kansas and South Carolina. Trump drew hard lines regarding an “open border,” biological men playing women’s sports and child sex changes, but expressed optimism on working with Democrats on other issues, such as immigration“We...

[Catholic Caucus] Considerations on the Traditional Pilgrimage to Rome -- by Roberto de Mattei Considerations Sine Ira et Studio on the Ad Petri Sedem Pilgrimage Roberto de MatteiNow that the polemics that arose in the heat of the moment have settled, let us attempt to offer some dispassionate considerations, sine ira et studio, as the Romans used to say, on the fifteenth Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem, held in Rome from October 23 to 25, 2026.The Roman pilgrimage is organized by the Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum, chaired by Christian Marquant. It takes place each year at the end of October and...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an interview on Wednesday, said he hoped gains by Democrats in the US midterm elections would generate more help for Ukraine in its 4-1/2-year-long war with Russia. Zelenskiy ​told Germany's ZDF television he hoped the changes caused by Democrats taking control of ‌both chambers of Congress next year would be to Kyiv's advantage. "I am also grateful to the Republicans, but the Democrats speak very clearly about supporting Ukraine and providing assistance to Ukraine," Zelenskiy said in comments provided in ​German by ZDF before the interview was broadcast. "They speak about renewing the connection between...

Progressive Democrats are preparing a renewed push for Medicare for All after Tuesday's midterm elections, setting up a battle over a government-run healthcare system that Republicans warn would eliminate most private insurance and require massive tax increases. The effort could become a major issue in the next Congress, particularly if Democrats gain control of one or both chambers, according to a report Tuesday in the Washington Examiner. Republicans argue the proposal would amount to a sweeping federal takeover of healthcare, replacing employer-sponsored insurance and forcing millions of Americans into a new government system. Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who...

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is running for speaker, he announced in a letter to colleagues Wednesday. Democrats have long considered the New Yorker — who has served two terms as minority leader — the heir apparent to longtime leader Nancy Pelosi. If he wins the Jan. 3 floor vote, he would become the House’s first Black speaker.

Democratic wins in key Senate races have set up an uphill battle for President Donald Trump to replace any potentially retiring Supreme Court justices once the opposition takes power in the chamber. While the Senate abolished the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations long ago, Democrats are set for an outright majority, meaning Trump would need Democratic support to confirm anyone to the bench. Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis opined on the situation on Wednesday, saying "no Supreme Court justice will be confirmed under President Trump's administration unless something happens in the next six weeks." Republicans can technically confirm replacements in...

The new Texas governor-elect, Gina Hinojosa, is and has been an open-borders activist with a long record of bitterly opposing any and all border security measures, and she will likely take every action she can to that effect when she assumes office. That could include scaling back state-led border enforcement operations and limiting discretionary cooperation with Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), although existing Texas law would constrain how far she could go. Fox News' Bill Melugin paints an uncomfortable picture on this matter. He Tweets: Understand the implications of what happened in Texas last night. Gina Hinojosa...

Experts say legal challenges and public pressure helped prevent federal interference in California’s midterm election.Federal prosecutors have signaled they will still press ahead with efforts to end alleged noncitizen voting and hold state and local officials accountable if they resist. Federal immigration agents didn’t swarm polling locations. FBI agents didn’t storm processing centers or seize ballots. A thousand federal election monitors caused little fuss. And President Trump — the nation’s election denier in chief — responded to a shellacking for his Republican Party by saying he’d work with Democrats as they take power in Congress in January.In many ways, the...

Democrat darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez handily secured reelection Tuesday night in New York’s 14th congressional district – amid mounting speculation of a potential 2028 run for president. The incumbent four-term congresswoman cruised past her Republican challenger Diamant Hysenaj, winning by a landslide with 78.7% of the vote in her lefty Bronx and Queens district, The Associated Press projected just six minutes after polls closed at 9 p.m. The midterm win solidifies her popularity among her mostly Democratic home base, further igniting rumors that she’ll either run against long-time Sen. Chuck Schumer or launch a 2028 presidential bid. Ocasio-Cortez’s political allies...

Msgr. Schneider calls for the integration of the SSPX after the excommunications: "They should be accepted as they are"The auxiliary bishop of Astana tells AdVaticanum that he knows of no compelling reasons to deny the Fraternity its place in the Church and regrets the veto on the traditional pilgrimage in Saint Peter’s.Auxiliary Bishop of Astana (Kazakhstan), monsignor Athanasius Schneider, has once again defended the integration of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) into the Church and has questioned positions that prioritize a strictly juridical interpretation of its situation over the defense of the Catholic faith. In an interview...

New York's Orthodox Jewish community has reached a historic political milestone, with election results confirming that a record 10 Orthodox Jewish lawmakers will serve in the NY state legislature in Albany. The incoming and returning lawmakers include eight members of the New York State Assembly, the lower chamber, and two members of the State Senate. They represent major Jewish communities across the state, including Brooklyn, Queens, Rockland County and Nassau County. The unprecedented representation in both legislative chambers is expected to strengthen the Orthodox community's influence over state policy, particularly on education funding, religious freedom, support for religious institutions and...

President Trump said Wednesday he is not considering replacing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth but predicted the Pentagon chief would be “very popular” if he filled Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) seat. “No, I think he’s doing a very good job,” the president said when asked whether he is considering replacing Hegseth following the Republican Party’s poor showing during Tuesday’s midterms, where Democrats took the House, the Senate and multiple governors’ mansions. CBS News reported Wednesday that Trump has been asking advisers and allies whether Hegseth should stay in the post following the midterms. Hegseth, a former Army National Guard major, is...

US President Donald Trump has been consulting with advisers on whether to keep US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his current role following the Republicans' losses in Tuesday's election, CBS News reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources. [cut] DeSantis floated as possible replacement One name being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth is GOP Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one source told CBS. DeSantis could potentially go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period and then take the post when his term expires on January 5.

French blood banks were on Monday affected by the recent wave of cybersecurity attacks on European refrigeration systems, the French Blood Establishment confirmed on Wednesday. The organization said that while it wasn’t the direct target of the attack, cold storage units operated by external providers containing the EFS’ blood products were compromised across three of its sites, with hackers cranking up temperatures. “Specifically, temperature and defrost thresholds were set to excessively high levels,” the EFS said in a statement translated from French to English by CNBC. “These cold storage units—located at EFS preparation and distribution sites—are used to store blood...

I asked Grok:Compare and contrast the rate of rebuilding after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake with the rate after the 2025 Pacific Palisades fire. Explain why this difference exists. Talk about the ease or difficulty of getting a building permit, red tape and bureaucracy, environmental regulations, and any other relevant reasons for the difference.This is Grok’s answer:After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fires, rebuilding was dramatically faster than after the January 2025 Pacific Palisades (and related Eaton) fires. The city largely recovered its built environment and commercial activity within about 3 years (essentially complete by ~1909–1910, with a major...

The D.C. establishment will falsely claim that the administration’s pro-American immigration policies caused Tuesday’s GOP wipeout, Vice President JD Vance said in a morning-after report on X. Vance said: In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I’m open to the idea that we should change enforcement — by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you. “Our voters did show up… The main problem is that many people...

On Monday, Pat Buchanan turned 88. I leave it to others who knew and worked with him to sing his praises; I have little new to add. I can say simply that his record speaks for itself. It is, however, my privilege to help run the magazine he founded. When in the Trump years you’ve run into conservatives in the under-50 DC set, they’ve always been enthusiastic about Pat and the idea of his magazine, even when they can’t tell you a single thing it’s published in the past year. People knew how much the Trump thing owed to our...