Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The surge of excitement around Kamala Harris has locked in powerful interest groups and unions, cemented titans of Wall Street and Hollywood, and captured "coconut-pilled" progressives and Joe Biden campaign aides alike. But Harris’ rapid ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket is also animating another important coalition of voters: former Republicans more desperate than ever to turn the page on Donald Trump. Already, Harris has notched Republican support from former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan. Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican, endorsed Biden in 2020. After launching a third party in 2022, Whitman...

By virtually all accounts, Joe Biden's debate performance was disaster. At first the left was in denial and eventually shifted to "it was a just a bad night." The family gathered together at Camp David for a summit to determine Biden's future course. It was speculated that the family might be trying to talk Biden into stepping down, but apparently that was inaccurate. It was reported that they were rather displeased at some advisers. Members of Joe Biden’s family privately trashed his top campaign advisers at Camp David this weekend, blaming them for the president’s flop in Thursday’s debate and...

President Trump reportedly has a very short veep list, and at the top is Senator Tim Scott—a politician who has never truly embraced the America First, Make America Great Again movement. He’s tried to ride the fence, offering occasional support here and there—he’s not downright awful, but his support always feels conditional and without any real passion or purpose. So, the question now is, did Tim Scott just disqualify himself as a possible VP with his latest appearance on ABC News? Many say yes and hope this marks the end of the tiresome “Scott hype.” So, what happened? Well, Tim...

Sen. Tim Scott appears determined to take himself out of the running to be Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick. In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union with host Jon Karl, Scott said he stood by his decision to certify the 2020 presidential election, despite widespread evidence of voter fraud that tipped the election in Biden’s favor. Here is a transcript of the exchange: JON KARL: OK. Senator, the day before that violent mob attacked the Capitol, you put out a statement explaining your decision to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. Do you stand by that? You were not one...

As former President Donald Trump looks to the U.S. Supreme Court for answers on his claims of presidential immunity, a Republican group has launched an ad campaign in opposition. Republicans for the Rule of Law launched a $2 million TV ad campaign featuring conservatives arguing that the Supreme Court should reject the former president's immunity claim. Supreme Court justices are considering a case involving Trump and whether presidents have immunity from criminal prosecutions. Trump's team argued that the president must have immunity for a functioning democracy to flourish, while the attorney for the federal government argued that presidents don't enjoy...

A group called Republicans for the Rule of Law launched a $2 million ad campaign Friday pushing back on former President Trump’s claim that he has absolute immunity from being prosecuted for his actions surrounding the 2020 presidential election. The advertisements feature 25 conservatives explaining why they favor the rule of law over absolute immunity. According to a press release from the group, the ad campaign will be focused in 12 states where “the immunity argument has been least available,” including Alabama and Texas, and states that “are directly impacted by these arguments,” including Georgia and Pennsylvania. The ads will...

It turns out House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had a quiet mentor who helped pull off the biggest accomplishment of his rocky seven months with the gavel — defying his right wing to pass a vital aid package for Israel and Ukraine. John Boehner — an establishment Republican who was speaker a decade ago chronologically, but an eon ago in the GOP's radical evolution — has become a surprising tutor to the novice, full-MAGA speaker.

Founder of Republican Voters Against Trump Sarah Longwell said Tuesday on CNN’s “The Lead” that former president Donald Trump’s plans for a second term were “terrifying.” Host Jake Tapper said, “What struck you most about the Time magazine interview?” Longwell said, “Just how much Donald Trump talked about what he wanted to do going forward. I got to tell you this piece was it is terrifying, but also so important that everybody go read it because there has been so little attention paid to what Donald Trump says. He’s going to do in his next time, there’s a lot of...

On April 20, House Republican leadership facilitated passage of a foreign-aid package that sends roughly $60 billion to Ukraine, $26 billion to Israel and Gaza, $8 billion to Taiwan, and exactly zero dollars to the southern border. The bill has since passed the Democrat-led Senate and was signed by President Joe Biden.

It’s time to face the music: the GOP is pretty much useless. Well, let’s rephrase that—it’s useless to us but incredibly valuable to the Democrats, who pull all the strings and call all the shots. Yet, some of us are still clinging to this idea of a magical “two-party” system in the United States. We’ve been conditioned to believe that even a RINO is somehow better than a Democrat. But let’s be real: that’s just playing into the Democrats’ hands. They want us to think that way because it keeps their well-orchestrated “two-party” charade alive and kicking. The truth is,...

Joe Biden, Democrats, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the RINOs are colluding on an aid package for Ukraine, which may upset plans by some Republican lawmakers to remove Johnson from the Speaker’s chair. The $95 billion package provides an additional “$60.84 billion to address the conflict in Ukraine and assist our regional partners as they counter Russia, $23.2 billion of which will be used for replenishment of U.S. weapons, stocks, and facilities.” It also provides aid to both Israel and, reportedly, Palestine. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world,” said Joe Biden in...

Two Republicans joined Democrats in blocking legislation that would have stopped transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports in K-12 schools in Nebraska. A bill that would stop student athletes from participating on sports teams for the opposite sex, as well as using locker rooms and bathrooms for the opposite sex, was blocked by a filibuster on Friday in Nebraska, according to a report by Nebraska Public Media. After four hours of debate, 31 state senators voted for the legislation (LB575), but the bill needed 33 votes in order to end the filibuster.

Republican strategist Karl Rove urged Democrats to “go hard” at former President Trump’s rhetoric surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, calling the former president’s pledge to free imprisoned rioters a “critical mistake.” “If they were smart, they’d take the January 6 and go hard at it. And they would say, ‘He wants to pardon these people who attacked our Capitol,'” Rove said told MSNBC’s Ari Melber. “One of the critical mistakes made in this campaign is that Donald Trump has now said ‘I’m going to pardon those people because they’re hostages,'” Rove said in the interview, which...

CNN’s Manu Raju reported over the weekend from Appomattox, Virginia on the effort inside the House GOP to oust one of its own, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), who is the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. Raju both aired his report on CNN’s Inside Politics Sunday and published an article on CNN.com detailing the various House Republicans openly campaigning in support of Good’s GOP primary opponent, state Sen. John McGuire. Raju noted that campaigning openly against a House colleague is “a tactic long viewed as a serious breach of protocol but one that underscores the bad blood within the House...

The advocacy group Republican Voters Against Trump announced a new six-figure campaign highlighting former Vice President Mike Pence‘s refusal to endorse former President Donald Trump in his 2024 campaign. The 15-second digital ad is set to run in five battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, while the billboard campaign will be featured in Phoenix, Atlanta, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee. “This is someone who worked with Donald Trump all four years of his presidency. He saw Donald Trump up close and personal every single day,” said John Conway, the group’s director of strategy, in an...

Republican Representative Mike Gallagher, who represents the 8th Congressional district of Wisconsin, announced earlier this year that he would be retiring from the House of Representatives after serving his current term in Office. On February 10th, 2024, Gallagher made the public announcement that he would not seek re-election to his position in 2024, further diminishing the slim majority Republicans currently hold in the House of Representatives. Gallagher joins the ranks of 14 other House Republicans who have also announced that they will not seek re-election heading into 2024. That list includes, Debbie Lesko (AZ-8) Kay Granger (TX-12) Brad Wenstrup (OH-2)...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who announced last month he would not run for re-election, will resign from Congress early, he confirmed in a statement Friday. Gallagher’s departure before the end of his term in January is another blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Republicans, who have been struggling to govern and demonstrate stability this Congress. Two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News of Gallagher's plan to resign early on Friday. The Wisconsin Republican then released a statement announcing that he will depart on April 19. The speaker's office confirmed that Gallagher informed Johnson of...

Outgoing Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said Thursday on CNN’s “OutFront” that the Republican-led House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden’s possible involvement with his son Hunter’s business deals was a “sideshow” that needed to end. Buck said, “I think the investigation is warranted in terms of looking at what Hunter Biden did. I think that we may want to look at laws that restrict the family members of the president and vice president in terms of outside of influences.”

An anti-Trump Republican group is planning to spend $50 million in a campaign to stop the former president from winning a second term in the White House. Republican Voters Against Trump plans to share testimonial videos of Trump’s past backers who will share why they won’t be supporting the former president come November. The campaign is orchestrated by Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist who has long been critical of Trump. The plan is to target “moderate Republican” and Republican-leaning voters in swing states with videos. The group had a similar strategy in 2020, when they shared more than 1,000 testimonials...

Sarah Longwell, founder of Republican Voters Against Trump, believes anti-Donald Trump Republicans helped to swing the 2020 election—and can help keep him out of the White House in this year's vote. On Tuesday, the group launched a $50 million ad campaign featuring testimonials from former Trump supporters, the Hill reports. The testimonials, which can be seen on the group's website, will air on multiple platforms in battleground states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.