Free Republic

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's floated potential run for the White House in 2028 was likely thwarted by his handling of the anti-ICE riots gripping Los Angeles, conservative social media critics predict. Newsom has been floated as a likely 2028 Democratic contender for the White House as he wraps up his second term as governor in 2026. Riots plaguing the city in response to the Trump administration's efforts to remove illegal immigrants residing in Los Angeles, which come on the heels of massive wildfires that rocked southern California this winter, have left Newsom on precarious political ground, according to conservatives who...

<p>In one of the best examples of "sleep in the bed you made" moments you'll ever see, Star Wars actor and voice of the Joker, Mark Hamill, decided to promote his new film on Bluesky. The only trouble is that this particular film involves the celebration of Jesus Christ, and Bluesky is a place where you won't find a lot of Jesus fans.</p>

For decades, the use of tariffs was considered a smart economic move to protect American entrepreneurship and markets for domestic producers. They were in place as America surpassed Great Britain in the late 1800s and early 1900s as the preeminent nation and economy in the world. They were in place during the Roaring Twenties -- first by the Emergency Tariff Act of 1920 and then the Fordney-McCumber Act of 1931. So why are they frowned upon now, especially by conservative economists? Five words: The Smoot-Hawley Tariffs Act. The tariffs applied from Smoot-Hawley are erroneously credited with prolonging the market meltdown...

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.

Critics of President Joe Biden ripped the octogenarian for campaigning in New Hampshire on locking up former President Donald Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris has not yet condemned Biden’s statement, though the Trump campaign has called on her to do so. “We gotta lock him up,” said Biden before backtracking on his remarks Tuesday. “Lock up him politically. Lock him out, that’s what we have to do.” The statement comes as Harris and Barack Obama are campaigning on the seriousness of what a president says, claiming Trump’s words represent a threat to democracy. “When Donald Trump repeatedly lies or cheats...

With regard to the new movie "REAGAN," I fully admit to a very large and enduring bias in favor of the former president. I worked as a writer in the White House of President Ronald Reagan from 1987 until the end of his administration in January 1989. More than that, I was blessed to share a deeply personal and emotional moment with the president. He had invited me to the Oval Office to commend me for something I had written. As we flowed into a very warm discussion, I mentioned that my parents, like his father, were dysfunctional alcoholics. As...

On Friday, I did something I hadn’t done since before COVID-19, I went and saw a movie premiere on the day it opened in an actual movie theater. With my childhood friend Susan, whom I’ve known for more than five decades—a dyed-in-the-wool conservative just like me—we went and saw Reagan. And unlike most critics on Rotten Tomatoes who rated it at 18% and elsewhere, we loved it along with a virtually unprecedented 98% of Rotten Tomato viewers.Right up front, I can say that Reagan is not without flaws. The cinematography in much of the movie is quite dark, especially in...

George Conway, one of former President Trump’s most vocal GOP critics, is giving liberals a piece of advice: “Laugh at him,” and call him crazy. Conway joined comedian and senior “Daily Show” correspondent Ronny Chieng Thursday to discuss Trump’s recent guilty verdict in his hush money trial and the upcoming election. He argued that mainstream media and the country have “not had a full national conversation” about Trump’s psychological condition. Conway said according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the DSM-5, he thinks Trump has a narcissistic personality disorder and is a sociopath.

On Friday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” CNN Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston stated that critics of President Joe Biden attending a fundraiser in New York and skipping the wake of a slain NYPD officer are “not telling you…that Joe Biden has been to these funerals in the past. In fact, back in 2014, he had gone to an officer’s slaying who was gunned down just sitting inside his patrol car.” After viewing video of Fox News host Greg Gutfeld criticizing the fundraiser, Preston said, “When it comes to the split-screen moment, he is right, in the sense that it...

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) has accused his critics of racism after many labeled him the “DEI mayor” following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge earlier this week. The collapse occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a cargo ship lost power and collided into the bridge. Six people were presumed dead after the bridge fell. Soon after the collapse, social media users — including Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman (R) and Florida congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini (R) — attributed the tragedy to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Scott on Wednesday told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that...

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Friday that public officials can sometimes be sued for blocking their critics on social media, an issue that first arose for the high court in a case involving then-President Donald Trump. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the court, said that officials who use personal accounts to make official statements may not be free to delete comments about those statements or block critics altogether. On the other hand, Barrett wrote, "State officials have private lives and their own constitutional rights." The court ruled in two cases involving lawsuits filed by people who were blocked after...

Aaron Rodgers pushed back on criticism he received when the New York Jets activated him from the injured reserve and put him on the active 53-man roster despite indications he wouldn’t play this season after all. The Jets cut fullback Nick Bawden to make room for Rodgers. But it left many scratching their heads over why Rodgers would need to have a roster spot in order to continue his rehab. Rodgers said during his appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" Tuesday that those criticizing him should have to reveal the status of their COVID-19 vaccination. "It’s the same old thing....

Rita Moreno says people who criticize President Biden’s octogenarian status “don’t understand anything about old age.” The legendary “West Side Story” actor, who turned 92 last week, opened up to ITK when asked recently whether she considers Biden’s age an issue in the 2024 presidential race. Eighty-one-year-old Biden is the oldest president to be elected to the White House. “I think people are mistaking something of President Biden,” Moreno said. “I think that because he walks like an elderly person — which he does — they don’t think this is working,” Moreno said, pointing to her head. “They don’t understand...

The White House issued a brutal response Monday to what it said was the "inappropriate" nickname President Biden has been given by critics of his support for Israel amid its war with Hamas terrorists. Dubbed "Genocide Joe," Biden has increasingly become the target of far-left protests across the country, including by some in his own party accusing him of supporting an effort to wipe out Gaza and the Palestinian people. "We're not worried about nicknames and bumper stickers. I mean, it's First Amendment free speech. The president's focused on … making sure that we can continue to support Israel as...

Ridley Scott has been typically dismissive of critics taking issue with his forthcoming movie Napoleon, particularly French ones. While his big-screen epic, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the embattled French emperor with Vanessa Kirby as his wife Josephine, has earned the veteran director plaudits in the UK, French critics have been less gushing, with Le Figaro saying the film could have been called “Barbie and Ken under the Empire,” French GQ calling the film “deeply clumsy, unnatural and unintentionally clumsy” and Le Point magazine quoting biographer Patrice Gueniffey calling the film “very anti-French and pro-British.” “When you start to go ‘oh...

Critics of the slow progress of the counteroffensive against the Russian invasion are spitting in the face of Ukrainian soldiers and should “shut up”, lest they want to try taking up arms against Moscow themselves, Ukraine has said. In another instance of Ukraine appearing to snap at its allies and backers, Kyiv’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba made caustic remarks at a conference in Spain on Thursday. Dismissing the concerns of those who discuss the apparent failure of the ‘Spring’ offensive to turn back the Russian war machine now as Autumn approaches, Kuleba said while sharing the podium with his Spanish...

President Biden received a fact-check and a large dose of social media ridicule after getting a major point of his climate policy wrong in a recent post on the X platform (formerly Twitter). In a post touting the Inflation Reduction Act, the administration’s key economic and climate legislation that was passed last year, Biden’s official account got the target date wrong for when the United States power grid would be powered by 81% clean energy. The post received an official X "Community Notes" message noting the error and backlash from critics for the obvious blunder, and took heat from others...

Boston’s Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu is facing criticism for compiling a list of her ctitics and handing it over to the police. You know, for all of the Democrats’ talk about authoritarians and fascism, they sure seem to like using those concepts as political tactics. It’s all projection, of course. FOX News reports: Boston mayor Michelle Wu under fire after sending list of critics and protesters to police Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, is facing criticism for “Nixonian tactics” after her administration admitted to creating a list of her most vocal critics and providing it to local authorities. “The...

The artist who sketched former President Donald Trump’s arraignment last week in Florida responded to criticisms that he portrayed Trump as younger and more physically fit than reality. “It’s rare I get any kind of feedback,” sketch artist William J. Hennessy Jr., 65, told the Boston Globe. Hennessy was one of three artists who captured Trump’s appearance at his arraignment in federal court in Miami last Tuesday. Trump was indicted on 37 federal charges related to alleged willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty and slammed the charges as a...

Arnold Schwarzenegger clapped back at critics who launched attacks at him on a Twitter post Sunday, alleging a photo of him traveling to his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative's Austrian summit was snapped on a private jet. "There is no climate emergency and all the private jets prove they all know it," one critic commented on Schwarzenegger's tweet. "This is a commercial flight - I truly hope you don’t go around making things up to be angry about all the time. I don’t want you to be that miserable," the actor responded.