Free Republic

Florida-based supermarket chain Publix said Tuesday that it will not provide COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of 5 after authorizations were handed down by federal health agencies. Spokesperson Hannah Herring told the Tampa Bay Times that the company will not be providing vaccines for kids aged 6 months to 4 years “at this time.” Herring said the company will not be providing an explanation for the decision. The company’s website says that it will provide COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5 and older. Publix’s pharmacies are still offering influenza vaccines and other, traditional vaccines for young children, according...

Sen. Rick Scott, head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, said Thursday he will vote against the bipartisan gun bill that has won the blessing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, putting more distance between the two powerbrokers. Mr. Scott, Florida Republican, said the good pats of the bill are outweighed by the bad, and he said the proposal is far different than the legislation he signed as Florida’s governor following the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. “These bills are not the same at all,” Mr. Scott said in a statement. “One was the product...

A judge has dealt a blow to a couple fighting to keep a little white cross on display at their home in The Villages. Judge Michelle Morley has ruled in favor of Community Development District 8 in its protracted legal battle with Wayne and Bonnie Anderson of the Village of Tamarind Grove. She dismissed their most-recent counter complaint. The Andersons had claimed that their display of the little white cross should be protected under the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act. However, CDD 8 has long held that the cross is considered a “lawn ornament” and therefore forbidden under deed compliance...

"Drag queens make everything better. Drag queens are fun," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel gushed. "A drag queen for every school! That is what would be fine for a kid." "Drag storytellers, and the libraries and schools that support them, are advancing a love of diversity, personal expression, and literacy that is core to what our city embraces," New York City Mayor Eric Adams tweeted after a newspaper report that the city had spent over $200,000 on transgender strip shows and other drag acts in public venues, including schools and libraries. At 53 and 61, Dana Nessel and Eric Adams...

Donald Trump has shared a poll indicating he would comprehensively beat Ron DeSantis for the 2024 Republican nomination for president amid continuing speculation the Florida governor is planning on announcing his candidacy. The former president shared the results of a recent Zogby Poll on Truth Social on Wednesday that indicated that he is still an overwhelming favorite to clinch the Republican nomination should he choose to run. The survey shows Trump has the backing of nearly 54 percent of votes from Republican primary voters—just under five times the amount that second place DeSantis received (11.5 percent).

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation and announced new actions related to immigration enforcement in the state. Among them is a policy that could impose a hefty financial burden on state taxpayers and reduce community trust toward police. S.B. 1808 requires each law enforcement agency in Florida that operates a county detention facility to enter into an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Under a so-called 287(g) agreement, state and local law enforcement officers are deputized by the Department of Homeland Security to carry out duties typically performed by federal agents. Those officers may interview people about...

A public opinion survey in New Hampshire, the state that for a century has held the first primary in presidential race, indicates that Florida Gov. Gov. Ron DeSantis has a razor-thin margin over former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary match-up. According to polling numbers released on Wednesday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, 39% of likely Republican primary voters in the Granite State would support the first-term Florida governor, with 37% backing the former president. Respondents were provided a list of potential contenders for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and DeSantis margin was well...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign a bill to grant places of worship the right to keep doors open during a state of emergency. Florida bill SB 254, which passed the Senate in January, would officially designate religious services as being essential and therefore allow houses of worship, including churches, to remain open and host public gatherings in the event of a public emergency or disaster. The governor received the bill last Friday and has until June 30 to act on it. “An emergency order authorized by this part may not directly or indirectly prohibit religious services or...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has picked another fight with progressive corporate America, this time the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. When he signed the state budget last week, Mr. DeSantis zeroed out $35 million to help build a new site for the Rays’ spring training. “I don’t support giving taxpayer dollars to professional sports stadiums, period,” he said Friday. This is a good policy that too few states emulate, and Florida taxpayers can be grateful that their Governor has a line-item veto and is willing to use it

MIAMI - Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been indicted on multiple charges connected to campaign contribution fraud during his 2018 run for governor of Florida. A federal grand jury has returned a twenty-one count indictment against Gillum, 42. The indictment alleges that between 2016 and 2019, Gillum and co-defendant Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks conspired to commit wire fraud, by unlawfully soliciting and obtaining funds from various entities and individuals through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose. The indictment also alleges Gillum and Lettman-Hicks used third parties to divert a...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out the relationship between Big Pharma and federal regulatory agencies at a press conference on Monday where he announced there will not be any state-pushed mRNA vaccination programs for 6-month old babies. "What this whole year and a half has shown us is these regulatory agencies in the federal government have basically become subsidiaries of the pharmaceutical companies," DeSantis said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis is getting more involved in local school board races across the state by endorsing candidates. He released a survey recently gauging candidates’ stances on face masks, charter schools, critical race theory and more. The survey is essentially a litmus test for any school board hopeful who wants to secure Gov. DeSantis’s endorsement. The pledge specifically says the candidate will, “Reject lockdowns, increase teacher pay, and reject critical race theory.”

A plane arriving from Santo Domingo at Miami International Airport caught on fire after it made a crash landing, tearing through a communications tower and a small building. The Red Air civilian transport aircraft flight 203 made an emergency landing at around 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, after attempting to land at the airport and something went potentially wrong with the landing gear. About 140 people and 11 crew members were on board the plane. The plane collided with several objects and steered off the runaway into the grassy area between the runway and the taxi way. A communications/radar tower that was...

Video making the rounds on social media shows a Miami-Dade police officer’s comments to a man during a traffic stop, News 6 partner WPLG reported. The stop took a threatening turn for the driver, who was heading to work. “Give me your driver’s license, registration and insurance,” the officer says in the video.... The MDPD officer then made a very bold statement to the man. “Simple thing, man. This is how you guys get killed out here, man,” the officer said.

Democratic Congressman and Florida gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Crist's website features two distinct themes for its English and Spanish speaking audience. He's got plenty of Pride merch for the English language side of the site, but on the Spanish language side, no rainbow or trans flags are on display. ***** He was originally a Republican, even serving as a Republican governor of Florida in 2006, but then became an Independent in 2010 after losing to Marco Rubio in a Senate Primary. Crist then started to identify as a Democrat after he came out in support of then President Barack Obama's reelection...

President Donald Trump recently issued his fourth official statement about me since our controversial interview two months ago. At the risk of further incurring his wrath, if anyone is drawing flies right now, it’s Donald Trump. If you were scripting a perfect Republican presidential candidate, the list of preferred requirements would read something like DeSantis’s resume.

The Republican Party of Florida gave the nation a “little taste of Florida freedom” last Saturday at a wildly successful “first in the nation” flotilla to honor Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Christian Ziegler, vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, told Breitbart News during the event. Roughly 1,300 boats registered for the event as individuals donned their vessels with patriotic flags, making their way down the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. Even more supporters and party officials participated in the show of support aboard the USS Orleck, docked along the river in downtown Jacksonville.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis staked his claim Thursday as the first governor in America not to provide state support for vaccinating younger kids against COVID-19. DeSantis stressed at an event Thursday that parents can still vaccinate their young children. Even though the state will not be working with the federal government to distribute the vaccine, that doesn’t mean it is banned, according to DeSantis. “You are free to choose — that’s not the issue,” he said.

People can make fun of us all they want about the unusual food combinations that Southerners grow up eating and never stop loving. A peanut butter-and-mayonnaise sandwich? Pass the chips. Pineapple-and-cheese casserole? We'll take seconds. Salt on watermelon? Duh. However, the most classic combination barely needs an introduction: peanuts and Coca-Cola. These two very different items, in fact, are not just a snack and refreshment to be enjoyed separately at the same time, but a dynamic duo to be guzzled straight out of a cold glass bottle. Together.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised eyebrows on Wednesday when he referred to Elon Musk as an African American, thanking him for his support for the Republican Party. Musk had tweeted that he had voted for a GOP candidate for the first time (Mayra Flores in South Texas) and added that he predicts a “massive red wave in 2022.” He said that he was unsure who his pick for president in 2024 would be but that he was leaning towards DeSantis, who is rumoured to be considering a presidential run. In response to that, DeSantis told reporters: “I’m focused on 2022…...