Free Republic

The campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a faux website called TrumpNikki2024.com in an attempt to paint his chief primary challengers as being in cahoots on a plan to be the Republican presidential ticket in 2024. The DeSantis campaign asserts that the duo of front-runner Donald Trump and his former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley are ganging up on DeSantis while running on a platform of MEGA — "Make the Establishment Great Again."

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney met with former President George H.W. Bush Thursday, but Romney aides say no endorsement is coming. The former Massachusetts governor ventured onto the turf of a rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, to meet with Bush and his wife, Barbara, in the living room of their Houston home. Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said Romney and the nation's 41st president are friends, but added that the visit doesn't mean Bush will endorse Romney. Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said the meeting was a courtesy visit, noting that Bush has met with other GOP presidential hopefuls, including Jon Huntsman.

In a rapid turnaround trying to capitalize on a J.D Hayworth comment at a tea party rally earlier this week, U.S. Sen. John McCain released a new web video drumming Hayworth for reportedly preferring President Obama to the Republican incumbent senator. The video begins with a picture of President Obama and lists a litany of criticisms, from the 9.5 percent unemployment rate, to the $13 trillion national debt and the lawsuit against Arizona’s immigration law. The text interrupts with, “but J.D. says he’d rather have Barack Obama as president.”