Free Republic

President Trump has returned from the Middle East to mounting questions about whether it’s appropriate for him to accept a luxury Qatari jet to serve as the next Air Force One, including from Republicans increasingly dubious that the move is a smart and worthwhile idea. Republicans have given the president a wide berth on a multitude of issues throughout his first four months in office as they push to enact his agenda. However, very few are rushing to his defense after he made clear he plans to accept the $400 million gift. “It’s an unnecessary distraction,” one Senate Republican told...

A handful of Republicans decided to put themselves first and derail President Trump’s agenda for at least a week all because of an obscure issue few people in America care about. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) dramatically resigned from the House Freedom Caucus on Monday, accusing her former allies of betrayal, blackmail, and abandoning “pro-family” values. Luna’s departure stems from her fierce advocacy for a bipartisan measure that would allow new mothers and fathers in the House to vote remotely for 12 weeks following the birth of their child. The proposal, co-sponsored with Democratic Representative...

President Donald Trump was left in disbelief as he was forced to listen to a woke bishop deliver a stunning sermon calling for him to show 'mercy' to migrants and transgender children. On the first full day of Trump's presidency Episcopal bishop Marianne Budde unleashed a wild sermon claiming trans kids were 'fearing for their lives' due to him being in the Oval Office. Trump sat stony-faced in the front row, next to First Lady Melania Trump, as the bishop claimed some people in America were afraid following his election. Addressing Trump directly during the service at Washington National Cathedral,...

[Catholic Caucus] What About the Catholics Who Voted for Harris?It appears that roughly 41 percent of Catholic voters may have voted for Harris. The real story here, then, should be that there is a sizable portion of the voting population that is incorrectly identifying as Catholic.Several media outlets have touted the significance of the Catholic vote in propelling President Donald Trump to victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. PJ Media’s report accurately suggested that it should have been a given that Catholics could not vote for Harris:“It turns out that skipping the Al Smith dinner, touting no exceptions for abortion,...

Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he will be voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election. The former Republican governor of California shared his shock endorsement on X Wednesday. 'I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians,' the actor wrote. Despite that, the Terminator star, 77, said that it's time for the country 'to move forward,' and that 'the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz.' 'We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that...

The Forward Party’s Christine Todd Whitman and former Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee William Weld are among a list of Republicans openly supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris later this year. Earlier this month, the Harris campaign announced “Republicans for Harris,” a list of over two dozen Republican Party officials helping with outreach efforts to GOP voters who remain critical of Republican nominee Donald Trump. Included on that list were Christine Todd Whitman, a former New Jersey governor who later helped create the Forward Party, and William Weld, a former Massachusetts governor who ran as Gary Johnson’s vice presidential nominee...

You no doubt have conservative friends who strongly dislike Donald Trump. They can’t tolerate his take-no-prisoners rhetoric. His personality rubs them the wrong way -- he’s abrasive, crude, and in their opinion, obnoxious. Their attitude reveals a form of narrow-mindedness known as tunnel vision. These conservative NeverTrumpers, when asked, typically admit that they like his policies -- securing the border, smaller government, lower taxes, and deregulation, to name a few. They say they could never vote for him, though. They apparently want a perfect candidate, but no such animal exists and they know it. They seem stuck on making the...

Former New Jersey governor helps launch Republicans for Harris By David Wildstein, August 04 2024 8:28 pm Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman was one of 24 Republican elected officials to endorse Democrat Kamala Harris for president on Sunday. “I was a proud Republican, but Donald Trump is unfit to lead our nation. We saw during his four years in office how he consistently chose himself, his pursuit of power, and his billionaire friends over the American people while spewing lies and spreading chaos at every turn,” said Whitman. “It’s time to move forward by electing Vice President Kamala...

Donald Trump was convicted and found liable for sexual assault. Ask yourself if supporting a rapist for President reflects your family values. The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy. Our fight against Trumpism is only beginning. We must combat these forces everywhere and at all times — our democracy depends on it.

Reach out to the marginalized, ordain women, engage the youth. Those were among the themes that emerged from a survey of North Jersey Catholics released last week by the Archdiocese of Newark, spiritual home to 1.3 million worshippers in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties. In hundreds of in-person and online listening sessions this year, more than 15,000 local Catholics said the church needs to make fundamental reforms to become welcoming to women, LGBTQ parishioners, immigrants and the young people who have increasingly strayed from religious life. "They believe that the Church is out of touch today," said a 39-page...

Conservative Party interim leader Candice Bergen demanded an end to trucker-led “Freedom Convoy” protests blockading international borders on Thursday, urging anti-mandate demonstrations to end. Her statement in the House of Commons appeared to be a dramatic shift from her initial support for the protests, which have lasted nearly two weeks in the national capital, Ottawa, but have begun to dispute Canada-U.S. supply chains through blockades along Canada’s southern border. Ambassador Bridge, the largest American-Canadian crossing, has come to an ongoing standstill this week as hundreds of trucks park themselves on and around it, inhibiting international traffic.

OTTAWA -- Manitoba MP Candice Bergen is waking up with a new job today: unifying the Conservative caucus. The party's former deputy leader was elected by her colleagues to serve as interim leader after a majority of MPs ousted Erin O'Toole from the top job. Bergen faces a caucus that has spent weeks divided and angry over O'Toole's leadership since last year's election loss. The party must also start preparing to pick a permanent leader. It will be the third such race in the past five years. Party president Rob Batherson told members that its national council will be appointing...

Alex Jones — conspiracy peddler, provocateur, Texan — lost easy access to millions upon millions of followers this week when Facebook, YouTube, Apple and Spotify banned much, if not all, of his content. Thinking of Jones’ empire — built on provably false theories and predictably wrong predictions — I wondered about those followers. Who are they? What brings them to his pages? Why do they seem willing to accept fantasy and conjecture over fact? Do they, as Jones’ lawyers have suggested, think the whole thing is a bit for entertainment? Would they tell me — a longtime member of the...

Twenty-seven conservative leaders signed a statement in support of Lee, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, Conservative Partnership Institute Chairman Jim DeMint, and FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon. “Sen. Lee has a proven record of standing up for principle, for doing the right thing for the right reasons, even in the face of withering criticism,” the letter states. “And that’s what this nominee is in for.” The statement warns the confirmation battle to replace Kennedy is likely to be the “roughest fight Washington has seen in decades,” and notes that a Supreme Court with a conservative majority will...

Back in '92, the late Paul Weyrich and I held a press conference during the Republican National Convention to make two announcements. First, we were endorsing George Bush 41's re-election. Second, we'd just made the most meaningless endorsement in history. He had so thoroughly bungled his first term that there was nothing to be done to save him. And we were right. The Republicans are now facing the same future in November. At this point, they will certainly lose the House and quite possibly the Senate. Worse, they've so botched their opportunity that only they can save themselves now. Their...

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp.S. of San Antonio has shown the kind of leadership so badly needed in this election season. When the oxymoronic Catholics of Choice published a advertisement in the San Antonio newspaper (September 12), Archbishop Garcia-Siller answered with the following broadside. This statement has the ring of a bishop who has had enough of the nonsense and wants to set the record straight. Thank you Archbishop Garcia-Siller! (Italics are added for emphasis.) ARCHDIOCESE RESPONDS TO CATHOLICS FOR CHOICE ADVERTISEMENT IN SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS An organization called Catholics for Choice placed a full-page advertisement in the Sept. 12 edition...

At practically the same time that Barack Obama has decided that the US has to shut its eyes to dissenters in Cuba suffering under the yoke of oppression by the Castros, he plans to offer a lesson in dissent to Pope Francis. Obama has extended invitations for the pontiff’s first state visit to transgender activists, a gay Episcopal bishop, and the leader of a group of nuns that want changes to Catholic teachings on abortion and euthanasia. Needless to say, the Vatican is not pleased with this attempt to lecture Francis on catechesis, as longtime Vaticanista Francis X. Rocca reports...

Many Republican entertainers are clearly smitten with former reality TV star Donald Trump, but for conservative commentator Glenn beck, this makes no sense. Trump, a longtime crony capitalist, supports many liberal positions, including increased gun control and single-payer healthcare. ... "I get it if you are tired of politicians, A Republican progressive, or you are only about winning," Beck wrote in a message posted at Facebook [link at URL]. "Perhaps you are angry and you just want to make someone pay or just want something done and you don't carte how it gets done, but what PRINCIPLES does he have...

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura says he’s backing Sen. Bernie Sanders in his bid for president. In a blog post on his independent media site, Ventura praised Sanders for challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination. “I think what Bernie Sanders is doing is extremely healthy,” Ventura wrote. “I love the idea of somebody throwing a fly in the ointment.” This isn’t the first time Ventura backed a presidential candidate looking to shake up the system. In 2008 and 2012, Ventura backed Republican Ron Paul for president. In 2004, Ventura backed Democrat John Kerry against Republican President George W. Bush....

For evangelicals who lament last Friday’s Supreme Court decision, it’s been a hard few days. We aren’t asking for emotional pity, nor do I suspect many people are eager to give us any. Our pain is not sacred. Making legal and theological decisions based on what makes people feel better is part of what got us into this mess in the first place. Nevertheless, it still hurts. There are many reasons for our lamentation, from fear that religious liberties will be taken away to worries about social ostracism and cultural marginalization. But of all the things that grieve us, perhaps...