Free Republic

Donald Trump says he's not blaming George W. Bush for 9/11, but he claims that if he'd been president, the attacks never would have happened. In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," the real estate mogul said that since he's "extremely, extremely tough on immigration" the attackers wouldn't have been in position to commandeer U.S. flights. "So there's a good chance that those people would not have been in our country," Trump said. He took another shot at Jeb Bush for claiming that Bush's brother, the 43rd president, kept the nation safe. "I'm not blaming George Bush," Trump said. "But...

Donald Trump has said that as president he would get along with Vladimir Putin, and there's evidence that the Republican frontrunner's apparent fondness for the Russian strongman is being reciprocated. Kremlin mouthpiece Konstantin Rykov said Wednesday in a Twitter post that Trump won the first Democratic presidential debate, held Tuesday in Las Vegas. In that tweet, Rykov linked to a Russian language, pro-Trump website with a Russian domain, www.Trump2016.ru, that he is likely behind. Until a few weeks ago, Rykov's Twitter home page featured Trump and his 2016 campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again." Western sources who monitor Russian politics...

Donald Trump has resumed criticizing Megyn Kelly, threatening to disrupt the fragile, on-again-off-again truce between himself and Fox News. Trump took to Twitter during Kelly's Thursday night broadcast to criticize her guests, as "dumb puppets." He also claimed that he didn't watch her show -- which is doubtful, given his tweets -- and retweeted users who disparaged the program. Trump kicked off Thursday night's tirade by targeting Kelly's guests, Fox News digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt and former George Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen, who now serves as a columnist and Fox News contributor. "Megyn Kelly has two really dumb puppets,...

(snip)Exchange as follows: STEPHANIE RUHLE, host: In order to be the president of the United States, you have to be a leader. We have not seen your soft hand. We have seen your offense, but George Bush had to stand in front of America after 9/11, Barack Obama did after Sandy Hook. Help us understand who Donald Trump is as a man. I need to know that you will make us feel a safe and you will make us feel proud.TRUMP: I think I have a bigger heart than all of them. I think I’m much more competent than all...