Free Republic

For the first time, two Republican governors have publicly supported the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, a new development in an intensifying political fracas that has so far been largely partisan. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, both outspoken critics of Trump, said Thursday that they favored the investigation, but Scott added that he would wait for more information before calling for further action against the president. In a statement to The Washington Post, Scott called the inquiry "appropriate" and said it is a key part of Congress's duty as a co-equal branch of government. "I...

You think you’re going to find support for impeachment, do you? You dare suggest that this presidency is embroiled in chaos? Well, I am at a truck stop right now to wait out an electrical storm, and nobody here agrees. I’ve been interviewing for what I figure is at least an hour — the clock on the wall is broken — and everyone I speak to still supports the president just as much as they did the day he was elected. They are happy to say so, even if it means talking to folks like me on a daily basis....

Just hours after the White House released a summary of President Donald Trump's call with the president of Ukraine — in which Trump urged the Ukrainian leader to do him a "favor" — Texas Sen. John Cornyn stood on the floor of the Senate and tore into House Democrats for moving forward with an impeachment inquiry based in part on that call.

Former Vice President Al Gore on Monday said a controversy surrounding a whistleblower complaint and President Donald Trump's conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gives "new impetus" to calls for impeachment proceedings. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour outside of the United Nations, Gore said "there is no evidence ... of any credible accusation against (Biden)." "The facts being laid out on President Trump's conversation with the head of Ukraine must be investigated thoroughly," he continued. "And this latest accusation, like some of the others, falls into a rare category. The only remedy is an impeachment investigation."

Conservative radio talk show Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday that Democrats are already experiencing "blowback" for taking aim against President Trump, including their push for impeachment following allegations concerning the president's phone call with the president of Ukraine. "Why is Trump at 50 percent, up to 53 now in Rasmussen? The blowback is happening. They just don’t see it," Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday, citing recent numbers in a poll often cited by the president. Democrats initiated an impeachment inquiry Tuesday, following the whistleblower's complaint that Trump had improperly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President...

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell claimed that she is aware of Senate Republicans who are willing to back impeachment of President Trump if it becomes clear that he tried to use foreign aid as "leverage." In a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump discussed both the aid the United States provides to Ukraine, while also requesting he look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The transcript of the phone call in question was released by the White House on Wednesday. In an interview on CNN shortly after, Mucarsel-Powell stated, "I do...

President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist and senior adviser David Axelrod said that even if President Trump is impeached, it is not likely he will be convicted by the Senate and removed from office. Appearing on CNN Tuesday evening after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry, Axelrod, 64, tossed water on some lawmakers’ hopes that impeachment would successfully remove Trump from the White House.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday he would back impeaching President Donald Trump if the White House refuses to comply with congressional demands for information about his interactions with Ukraine’s president and other Democratic probes. “Congress should demand the information it has a legal right to receive,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. If he doesn’t, Biden said, “Donald Trump will leave Congress no choice but to initiate impeachment. It would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making.” Biden’s remarks were his first extended comments about Trump’s interactions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump...

President Donald Trump said that India has never invested in the U.S. like it is doing today and said he wants to strengthen the two nation's "cherished bonds" during a rally with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. Organizers expected roughly 50,000 people to attend the "Howdy Modi" rally at Houston's NRG Stadium. "We welcome India's growing investments right here in the Lone Star state. Nations around the world are investing in the United States because they know we have the best economy and best workers in world.We want to thank everybody and India has never invested in the...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Friday’s LGBTQ Presidential Forum had the feeling of a home game for Pete Buttigieg, who was introduced as “a member of our community” to a rousing standing ovation. But that enthusiasm for Buttigieg has not guaranteed him a lock on this voting bloc in Iowa. Buttigieg covered topics including learning “the hard way” about “discrimination” when he came out — like the first time he saw his mayoral office’s annual blood drive on his schedule, Buttigieg said, and soon realized, “I can’t be part of it.” Yet some activists in Iowa said that Buttigieg had not...

President Donald Trump is expected to headline his largest rally yet on Sunday when he appears in Houston in an effort to appeal to a growing political force in the United States: Indian Americans. Trump will speak to an expected crowd of 50,000, mostly Indian Americans, who are flocking to the most diverse city in the nation to catch a glimpse of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at what is being touted as the largest event in the U.S. for a leader of foreign country. He hopes to peel off some Indian American voters who could be attracted to his...

Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called her own party's failure to impeach President Donald Trump a 'national scandal.' The freshman Congresswoman from New York made the remarks in a tweet late on Saturday, ratcheting up pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow impeachment to move forward. 'At this point, the bigger national scandal isn't the president's lawbreaking behavior - it is the Democratic Party's refusal to impeach him for it,' she wrote. Ocasio-Cortez's forceful remarks join the growing clamor from some Democrats demanding that party leaders impeach the president, with the intelligence community whistleblower controversy fueling fresh outrage. In...

An extended discussion about his son’s business dealings isn’t helpful to Biden’s electability argument. Joe Biden had a chance to excoriate Donald Trump on Friday after a blockbuster report detailed how the president pushed Ukrainian investigators to investigate Biden’s son. Instead, Biden was circumspect and measured in a comment to reporters. Only hours later, after Biden and his advisors weighed more facts and after Democrats renewed calls for impeaching Trump, did the former vice president’s campaign issue a broader and stronger statement. The time it took Biden to unleash his tougher comments – which stopped just short of urging impeachment...

Pete Buttigieg, the first major openly gay candidate for president, is campaigning heavily in Iowa, a state that was among the first to sanction gay marriage. DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The question posed to Pete Buttigieg — gay, married and running for president — came from a supporter at an Iowa campaign stop: What should he tell friends who say America isn't ready to elect a gay man as president? That prompted a woman in the crowd to object with an expletive, igniting cheers from hundreds in the audience. Of the many intriguing things about Buttigieg and his candidacy...

Democrats are having a wonkish but important debate right now as they pick their next standard-bearer: Should they try to persuade voters who supported President Barack Obama for two terms and then left them in 2016? Or should they mobilize the tens of millions of Americans who stayed home in 2016 and would seem to have a natural home in the Democratic Party in 2020, including people of color and single women? The debate tends to track along ideological lines. Progressives pushing socialized medical insurance are ready to forgo any attempt to win back Trump voters. Doing so allows them...

White House hopeful Julián Castro called on House Democrats to impeach President Trump after reports surfaced that he urged the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, his chief political rival in the 2020 race. “You cannot sit by as the highest officeholder in the land flagrantly violates the law and violates every norm of a healthy democracy that we have, because it’s setting a terrible standard for people in the future. We can never normalize this,” Castro said on the campaign trail. “He needs to be impeached. I love these House Democrats—my brother is one of them,...

The last time presidential candidates gathered to address LGBTQ issues specifically was 2007. Since then, there’s been a sea change in rights and acceptance. When 10 of the Democratic candidates for president gather in Iowa on Friday evening, it will be at a forum to address issues that are top of mind for one of their party’s most reliable constituencies: the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. The candidates — Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Sestak, Elizabeth Warren and Marianne Williamson — will take the stage at Coe College...

President Donald Trump reacted to Robert “Beto” O’Rourke’s gun confiscation talk by suggesting “Dummy Beto” sank any chances for gun control legislation. Breitbart News reported that O’Rourke used the September 12, 2019, Democrat debate to say, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.” The next day he elaborated on the statement, making clear that turning over AR-15s would be “mandatory” if his plan were in place. On September 18, 2019, Trump tweeted: “Dummy Beto made it much harder to make a deal.” He added that Beto’s comments “Convinced many that Dems just want to take your guns away.” A...

We wanted to find out what appeals to Donald Trump’s supporters and why they believe he deserves another term. The economy, the judges and a get-the-job-done attitude is just part of it. Here are their stories. BOSTON — His critics call him dangerous, unhinged and unstable, and 10 leading Democrat contenders and three Republican challengers would like to replace him. But less than five months from the Iowa caucuses, President Donald Trump enjoys the support of a solid majority of Republicans, and they have sound reasons to stick with their man despite the furor that continually surrounds him. According to...

Former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton blamed voter suppression for her 2016 loss, and threw her support behind claims made by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams regarding the 2018 Georgia governor race. "You can run the best campaign, you can have the best plans, you can get the nomination, you can win the popular vote. And you can lose the Electoral College and therefore the election for these four reasons. Number one, voter suppression," Clinton said Tuesday an "In Defense of Democracy" event at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. "We saw what happened in Georgia where Stacey Abrams should...