Free Republic

First lady Melania Trump encouraged the President to start shaking hands with other world leaders during Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday. At one point during the three-hour Catholic mass, attendees were invited to share the “sign of peace” by shaking hands with one another. “Donald, look left,” Melania whispered, according to forensic lip reader Jeremy Freeman. Following the first lady’s lead, Trump turned to Estonian President Alar Karis and Spain’s King Felipe VI, saying, “Great to see you, great to see you,” while shaking their hands, Freeman said. Turning to his right, Trump then shakes hands with Finnish President Alexander Stubb,...

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) is apparently going to outline in an upcoming speech a “war plan” to defeat President Donald Trump (R) who won her state during the 2024 presidential election. During an interview with Politico about the speech she will deliver in Lansing on Thursday, Slotkin claimed the president is doing “a whole bunch of things that I think are a threat to our economy and a threat to our Democracy and I have a responsibility on behalf of my state to point that out and try to do something about that,” the outlet reported on Thursday. A recent...

Left-wing actor John Leguizamo, star of John Wick and Disney’s Encanto, recorded a series of videos for his fans and followers of himself reading a political manifesto called Project 2029, he says was written by Liz Cheney, as a path forward for democrats after their defeat last November. “This is from Liz Cheney. She had to do it, because, well, dear Democratic Party: I need more form you. You keep sending emails, begging for $15, while we’re watching fascism consolidate power in real time,” Leguizamo began in a video posted to the leftist echo chamber Bluesky on Thursday. Liz Cheney...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday that his state would due the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over cuts to the federal AmeriCorps volunteer program. AmeriCorps was established by President Bill Clinton to provide volunteer opportunities on American soil (the Peace Corps, established under President John F. Kennedy, focuses on volunteer service abroad). Elon Musk’s DOGE made cuts to the program this week, after half of AmeriCorps’ 600 employees had already accepted a voluntary severance package. Many volunteers across the nation were also let go from the agency.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said on Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that the Signal group chat on military strikes against the Houthis between Trump administration officials might be a violation of the “Espionage Act as well as the Federal Records and Presidential Records Act.” Blumenthal said, “I’ve talked to some of the pilots who have undertaken these missions against the Houthis. They have very seriously threatening air defense systems that can shoot down our planes and the early warning that might have been given them about the targets, the human targets that were on the list, about the weather, about the...

“We’re not going to allow this mass deportation,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said during an appearance on The David Pakman Show, making it clear that state police will not cooperate. “We’re not going to allow this mass deportation,” Hochul said, explaining that they will cooperate only when there is a warrant or someone is on the terrorism watch list. “Where we will cooperate — and I did this even under the Biden administration — if you have a warrant, or you know, someone’s on a terrorism watch list or committing crimes in their home country, or committing crimes...

Comedian Bill Maher had two words for those who would criticize his scheduled meeting with President Trump at the White House: “&&&- you.” During an interview with comedian Andrew Schulz on his Club Random podcast, Maher discussed his scheduled meeting with President Trump and how it would bother hard leftists. “Kid Rock was here a couple of weeks ago and he said ‘I want you to meet Trump. I’m going to take you to the White House.’ So now we’re going to do that,” he said.

A fire blazing at a Tesla charging station in Fargo, North Dakota, on Friday is believed to be intentionally set, the city’s battalion chief said. Acts of domestic terrorism against Tesla continue despite the federal government threatening arsonists and vandals with heavy prison fines. Fargo firefighters, who responded to a 3:15 a.m. fire at the Tesla charging station in the parking lot of Scheels on 45th Street South, revealed they found burned wood chips and a gas can near the scene of the incident, according to a report by InForum. One of the charging stations was smoking while a small...

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! host Jimmy Kimmel seemingly justified the recent string of vandalism and arson attacks against Elon Musk’s Tesla dealerships and vehicles across the country while spreading a debunked Nazi salute hoax. “Poor guy,” Kimmel sarcastically said of Musk and his company facing attacks, adding, “You do one, maybe two, Nazi salutes, everybody gets all bent out of shape.” “Someone lit a bunch of Teslas on fire,” Kimmel said during his monologue. “And here’s the thing, I get that people are upset, [but] burning a car might not be great for the environment. I don’t think that’s what...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is reportedly planning to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration over the revoking of more than $80 million in migrant shelter funding for the city. “We intend to initiate legal action by February 21, 2025,” a letter obtained by New York Post read. “The law Department is currently drafting litigation papers with respect to this matter.” The letter, penned by Muriel Goode-Trufant, Counsel for the Adams administration, was reportedly sent to city Comptroller Brad Lander — who is running against Adams in this summer’s Democrat primary election for New York City...

Democratic Oregon Rep. Maxine Dexter screamed out during a rally Monday the party faithful need to “*&*&” President Donald Trump. The Daily Caller reports the obscenity came as the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) gathered on Capitol Hill and rallied “to save the civil service” and oppose Trump’s push to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Dexter was seen at the podium addressing protesters before calling out Trump and teasing her supporters to not “tell her children” before she spoke. “I’ve been told I have 30 seconds, so I am...

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Monday on CNN’s “The Source” that President Donald Trump has America “staring the death of democracy in the eyes.” Partial transcript as follows: COLLINS: Senator Murphy, as we look at the developments that have happened, in the last 48 hours, what are your concerns about this moment that we’re at with the courts, with the President, and with this suggestion from two of his top advisers that maybe they defy the court’s rulings? MURPHY: Yes, listen, I mean, this isn’t hyperbole to say that we are staring the death of democracy in the eyes, right...

LOS ANGELES, California — Ambassador Ric Grenell told federal, state, and local leaders that he would not tolerate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) criteria slowing down the process of cleaning up and rebuilding after L.A. fires. “That #@###$#$ can’t happen,” Grenell said, saying that he had heard that subcontractors for debris removal were being delayed because they were trying to find “the right mix” in terms of DEI requirements, slowing down the process. “If we hear about specific instances, we’re going to highlight them,” he warned. “That #$##@#$# can’t happen, okay? We want people who can get here and remove...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will be standing on the tarmac with hand outstretched to greet President Donald Trump when his plane lands to begin a visit of the fire-ravaged Los Angeles area on Friday afternoon. “I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources she needs for a successful briefing are provided to him,” Newsom said on Thursday, according to Politico. Newsom previously admitted while he had invited Trump to California, he had not had any contact with the president before his visit, but planned...

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) claimed Thursday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that President Donald Trump had “legitimized” political violence against Democrats. When asked about the J6 pardons, Murphy said, “I mean, let’s let’s really talk about who he let out of prison this week, who walked out of prison. The guy walked out of prison this week that pepper sprayed multiple officers to the point where one had a heart attack, he let out of jail this week. People who were beating police officers over the head with poles he let out of jail. Someone who said when he arrived...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lamented the hesitation on the part of outgoing President Joe Biden to preventatively sanction Russia before the 2022 full-scale invasion of his country in an interview published on Sunday, describing threats to sanction Moscow only after an invasion “*&**&^&*.” Zelensky made the comments in a three-hour interview with podcaster Lex Fridman that the Ukrainian government-run United24 platform described as “bold” and candid, focusing much of its time on the ongoing invasion of the country and Kyiv’s relationship with America – under both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump. Ukraine has been in some form of war with...

Esquire has deleted a column that used a false claim about former President George H.W. Bush as the basis to justify President Biden's decision to pardon his son, Hunter. In a Tuesday column, liberal pundit Charles P. Pierce claimed that Hunter Biden was not the first presidential son caught up in controversy, asking readers, "Anybody Remember Neil Bush?" "Nobody defines Poppy Bush's presidency by his son's struggles or the pardons he issued on his way out of the White House. The moral: Shut the f--- up about Hunter Biden, please," he wrote in the sub-headline. "[The] lucky American businessman['s]… father...

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Way Too Early,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) stated that the incoming Trump administration’s agenda is “about efficiency and slash and burn and scare,” and wondered, “when are we going to hear the words of caring for people, when are we going to hear about uplifting people? That’s not on the agenda.”

The Biden administration’s “climate envoy,” John Kerry, claimed that the United States was “on the brink of needing to declare a climate emergency.” During a forum hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics last week, when asked what people who care about the climate and are concerned about the future “should be doing,” Kerry stated that people needed to “start focusing” on the arguments that went with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition. Kerry added that there were “seven million people” who were dying each year due to poor air quality.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that President Joe Biden “still stands” by his claim that President-elect Donald Trump is an “existential threat,” even though he also wants a peaceful transfer of power. Jean-Pierre was asked about Biden’s earlier descriptions of Trump during the campaign, given his warm reception for Trump last week and seeming comfort with the idea of a man Democrats likened to Adolf Hitler returning to office. Critics on both sides of the aisle have suggested that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris never really believed Trump was an existential threat to America at all,...