Free Republic

Pundits and prognosticators are in a rare mea culpa moment, acknowledging how badly they misjudged Donald Trump as a presidential candidate and apologizing for being so narrow-minded. But they didn’t need to travel to dozens of campaign events or poll hundreds of Iowans to understand Trump’s appeal. All they had to do was understand one single number: $55,191. That was median household income, adjusted for inflation, in June 2015, the month Trump declared he was running for the Republican presidential nomination. That number is neither good nor bad on its own, but when you compare it with a second number,...

Donald Trump said Thursday that he will name his vice presidential pick at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July. Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, Trump said that it was still early in the process to select a running mate, but that he would soon form a committee to begin vetting running mates. “It is early — we just won yesterday,” Trump said. “I will announce it at the convention. A lot of people are interested.” Trump has said he intends to pick a Republican with prior government experience. Trump has not yet reached the number...

<p>Reminds me of something Mike Murphy said about Trump in the aftermath of Jeb’s collapse. The logic in favor of nominating another Bush was always, er, complicated, but the logic against nominating a loose cannon is straightforward.</p> <p>I’ll bet even Murphy didn’t think Trump would advertise the possibility that America’s creditors might not receive payment in full in a Trump administration. Choose your own preferred term for what he’s recommending here — renegotiation, bankruptcy, default.</p>

Days before a critical Indiana primary that could sew up the presidential nomination for the “presumptive” Republican party nominee, the candidate’s eldest son, who is also his current campaign surrogate and Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, isn’t interested in talking politics at all..... If all of these Trump business traits—passion, hard work, getting your hands dirty—sound distinctly similar to many of the themes Donald Sr. is hammering home on the Republican campaign trail it’s because they’ve run in the family for decades—and Don Jr. isn’t shy about telling voters as much. Presidential campaigns have a habit of throwing...

Donald Trump has used tweets to insult women and ethnic groups, and to drive news cycles over everything from his late-night TV choices to his midday food options. But he escalated his feud this morning with House Speaker Paul Ryan in a profound way, with implications and ramifications that extend far beyond November. “Paul Ryan said that I inherited something very special, the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Wrong, I didn't inherit it, I won it with millions of voters!” On a basic level, Trump is right. He stands now as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee because of millions...

Truncated title. Full title: Donald Trump Won’t Change Platform to Appease Ryan: People Voted for Me ‘Because They Agree with What I’m Saying’ During Friday morning’s interview with Donald Trump on Breitbart News Daily, SirusXM host Stephen K. Bannon suggested House Speaker Paul Ryan withheld his endorsement to pressure Trump into dropping his positions on trade, the border wall with Mexico, bringing jobs back from China, and temporarily restricting Muslim immigration.

Put America First- rings true with voters. As they continue to size up billionaire Donald Trump and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, American voters appear highly conflicted on questions of national defense and foreign policy......... The conflict makes odd political alliances

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has a word of warning for her fellow Democrats: "We can’t ignore Donald Trump any longer." In a fundraising email sent Wednesday from the Democrats' campaign arm, Pelosi said she's "worried" and "disgusted" by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. She's calling for "serious help from grassroots Democrats to stop him and the Republicans" in November. Translation: send money. "He’s a formidable candidate — and a serious threat to our country," Pelosi said on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). "It’s up to us to make sure Trump doesn’t become our next President."...

IMMIGRATION REFORM THAT WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN The three core principles of Donald J. Trump’s immigration plan When politicians talk about “immigration reform” they mean: amnesty, cheap labor and open borders. The Schumer-Rubio immigration bill was nothing more than a giveaway to the corporate patrons who run both parties. Real immigration reform puts the needs of working people first – not wealthy globetrotting donors. We are the only country in the world whose immigration system puts the needs of other nations ahead of our own. That must change. Here are the three core principles of real immigration reform: 1....

On Friday’s Breitbart News Daily, SiriusXM host Stephen K. Bannon asked Donald Trump about the appointment of his business associate Steven Mnuchin as campaign finance chairman. The move has been criticized because of Mnuchin’s long tenure with Goldman Sachs–the financial giant seen as a Wall Street villain by the populist constituency that propelled Trump to victory in the GOP primary. In fact, during the Republican primary, Senator Ted Cruz was criticized because his wife Heidi worked for the company. “Some people are saying, ‘He’s selling out to Wall Street already; he’s gonna have all kinds of favors he’s going to...

Pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List praised Donald Trump for hiring John Mashburn as a campaign policy adviser, calling Mashburn an "excellent hire, especially for the pro-life movement and our legislative priorities." "I have known and respected John Mashburn for many years," SBA president Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. "He is a smart strategist with deep pro-life roots. John is well-respected across every issue set. For him, the life issue is foundational and one which helped draw him into politics." "I have known and respected John Mashburn for many years," SBA president Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. "He...

The city of Revere gave Donald Trump his largest margin of victory in Massachusetts' March 1 Republican primary. "I hate to say that I grew up not liking people. I mean, I like Americans. I just despise other people right now, non-Americans," said Anthony Paolini, 55, a disabled construction worker. "Just the way they act, they're taking over all the jobs. You can't even get a job. My niece went to school five years, she's working at McDonald's." "I just believe that (Donald) Trump can change this country," Paolini said. "He talks from the heart. He's got balls." Paolini is...

We have seen our fair share of bad takes this election cycle—we’ve seen the personal essay (ie. “Why the Feminist Vote Is a Vote for Jeb”), the unexpected turn (ie. “You Might Think Hillary Is a Woman—Here’s Why She Isn’t”), the outrage-bait garbage (ie. “A Liberal Case for Donald Trump”) (that one’s real). Late Wednesday evening, the Washington Post published something new. Written as advice to the Clinton campaign, the article, entitled “Hillary Clinton is walking into Donald Trump’s trap,” instructed the female candidate to stop making such a big deal of her gender. It was emasculating, the article argued—someone...

<p>Two months ago, Mexico’s top diplomat made international headlines for calling Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s policies “ignorant and racist.”</p> <p>“When an apple’s red, it is red. When you say ignorant things, you’re ignorant,” Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu told The Washington Post. She added that Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was “absurd” and “not a proposition we would even consider.”</p>

The West Virginia Coal Association is putting its weight behind Donald Trump for president. Members of the group, which represents companies in coal mining and related industries, voted Thursday to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee, days before West Virginia’s presidential primary. “Trump has said he will reverse the Democratic regulatory assault that has cost the coal industry more than 40 percent of our production and jobs since 2008,” Bill Raney, the group’s president, said in a statement. “In contrast, Hillary Clinton’s proposals essentially double-down on the job killing Obama policies,” he said. “West Virginia can’t afford that and neither can...

After Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination on Tuesday night, the BBC rounded up the reactions from the global press to Trump's victory. Aside from some gloating in authoritarian Russia and China, the reaction was pretty shocked. "The craziest US presidential election campaign begins," Germany's Die Welt daily wrote. "The unthinkable has come to pass."

Race – Civil Rights Act of 1964 Color – Civil Rights Act of 1964 Religion – Civil Rights Act of 1964 National origin – Civil Rights Act of 1964 Age (40 and over) – Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 Sex – Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Civil Rights Act of 1964 Pregnancy – Pregnancy Discrimination Act Citizenship – Immigration Reform and Control Act Familial status – Civil Rights Act of 1968 Title VIII: Housing cannot discriminate for having children, with an exception for senior housing Disability status – Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump outlined economic policy initiatives on Thursday that he would pursue if elected to the White House in November, including refinancing longer-term U.S. debt, lowering taxes and scrapping a slew of federal regulations. The Manhattan real estate mogul said his aim would be to clear the way for U.S. businesses to succeed. "We're lowering taxes very substantially and we're going to be getting rid of a tremendous amount of regulations," Trump said in a wide-ranging interview with CNBC. "The business people they talk about regulation more than they talk about taxes," he said.

Sen. Ted Cruz dropped out of the presidential race on Tuesday, making it almost certain that Donald Trump will win the GOP nomination and face Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in November. For those who've been in denial that this day could ever come, we figured a refresher course on the real estate developer's musings about climate and energy might be in order. On the basic science: "I am not a great believer in man-made climate change," Trump told the Washington Post editorial board in March. "If you look, they had global cooling in the 1920s and now they have...

... Trump promises a return to tariffs. He also promises a wall with Mexico, penalties against profitable American companies, skimming foreign remittances, and more. Trump does not mince words, and you have to respect his forthrightness. What each of these solutions has in common is a heavy-handed government that imposes its will at the price of consumer freedom. What right does a White House staffer have to tell you what you can buy and the extra price you have to pay if you choose the wrong product? Your freedom to trade — to buy what you want — is what’s...