Free Republic

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he has “no doubt” that Ukraine will join NATO after the war with Russia ends. Austin’s comments come after a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in which NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that Ukraine’s application to join the alliance will have an easier path with one procedural hurdle being removed from the process. But Stoltenberg also did not lay out a timetable for Ukraine to join, frustrating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Austin told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview on Thursday that Ukraine still needs to take several steps before it can join NATO, including...

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday defended not conceding the 2020 presidential election until after Congress certified Electoral College the results in January 2021, pointing to the Trump campaign’s ongoing lawsuits challenging the results. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Pence in an interview on Tuesday about why he did not publicly concede the election in mid-December, after the members of the Electoral College had cast their votes. Pence said he wanted to be “respectful” of the process, as “a lot” of the lawsuits that the campaign filed in the key states that clinched President Biden’s victory were still active in...

Special counsel Jack Smith has reached agreements with at least two fake GOP electors to provide them limited immunity in exchange for testifying before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, CNN reported Friday. People familiar with the situation told the outlet that federal prosecutors have been trying to quickly confirm evidence on the record recently and have refused to grant extensions to subpoenas for testimony for some witnesses. They also said Smith’s office was prepared to compel testimony from witnesses who were given immunity but indicated they would refuse to answer questions under their Fifth...

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a bill on Friday to establish a commission with the power to remove local prosecutors who “refuse to uphold the law.” Kemp’s office said in a release that he established the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PACQ) with his signature to serve as “a valuable oversight mechanism” for district attorneys and solicitors-general throughout the state. The office said the commission will ensure these officials fulfill their constitutional and statutory responsibilities.

Most beer drinkers support brands working with transgender spokespeople, according to a new poll taken amid conservative criticism over a partnership between Bud Light and transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. A Morning Consult poll released Thursday found that 53 percent of monthly beer drinkers said they would feel favorable toward a brand working with a transgender spokesperson, while only 28 percent said they would feel unfavorable toward the brand. About 20 percent said they do not know or have no opinion. Flourish logoA Flourish chart Those who drink beer at least once a month leaned more Democratic and younger than those...

Ukraine has reported that more than 1,000 Russian troops were killed on Monday alone as the war between the neighboring countries approaches its first anniversary. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post that 1,030 Russian personnel were killed in fighting, raising the total throughout the conflict to just more than 133,000. Ukrainian forces also destroyed 14 tanks and 28 armored personnel vehicles, officials said. Reuters reported that the number of Russian soldiers killed made Monday the deadliest 24 hours of the war for Russia so far, but it could not independently verify Ukraine’s claims. It also reported that...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan speaks at an annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Outgoing Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said managing the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2015 riots in Baltimore and his cancer diagnosis were the greatest challenges he faced during his time as governor. Hogan met with the Washington, D.C.-based Fox affiliate FOX 5 for an interview to reflect on his time as governor as his second term comes to an end, saying the pandemic was probably the “toughest” challenge he faced. But he said handling the violence...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) leads former President Trump by 14 points in a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary match-up, according to a new poll. The Wall Street Journal survey released on Wednesday found that DeSantis leads Trump among likely Republican voters, 52 percent to 38 percent. DeSantis also has an advantage in his approval rating, with 84 percent of Republicans surveyed having a favorable view of him. By comparison, 71 percent said they have a favorable view of Trump. DeSantis’s name recognition also appears strong, as only about 10 percent of likely GOP primary voters said they did not know...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) blasted former President Trump and Republican leadership for the party’s failure to secure a red wave in the midterm elections on Friday. Hogan and other GOP political leaders spoke at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, which started Friday and runs throughout the weekend, about the state of the coalition, the party and U.S.-Israel relations.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) trolled her Republican opponent Kelly Tshibaka after she took a lead in the first-place votes for the state’s Senate race. Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system means voters ranked the candidates from first place to last. A candidate must win a majority of first-place votes to win outright without additional rounds being needed.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday that Americans want leadership that reflects the “civility and respect” that they show each other every day. Pence, widely thought to be eying a 2024 White House bid, said on “Fox & Friends” that people have come up to him to say that they want to see the policies of the Trump administration but also have a “genuine desire for leadership that could unite the country around our highest ideals.” “I’m out of politics now. And once you — once you get out of politics, and we moved back to Indiana is,...

A GOP mega-donor said that he would no longer support former President Trump after his announcement of a third presidential bid in 2024 on Tuesday night. Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO and co-founder of the investment firm Blackstone, told Axios in a statement that the Republican Party should nominate someone else who will represent a new generation of leaders. “America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” he said. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) declared on Tuesday an invasion is happening on the southern border and moved to invoke invasion clauses of the U.S. and Texas constitutions to allow him to boost security at the border. “I’m using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe,” Abbott said in a tweet. The governor, who was reelected last week, plans to take a variety of actions, including deploying the National Guard to repel and turn back immigrants he says are trying to cross the border illegally, sending the Texas Department of Public...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) brushed off attacks from former President Trump while taking questions at a high school on Tuesday, saying the criticism he has received from the former president is “just noise.” “I think what you learn is, all that’s just noise, and really what matters is, are you leading, are you getting in front of issues, are you delivering results for people and are you standing up for folks?” he said. “And if you do that, then none of that stuff matters.” DeSantis said at Fort Walton Beach High School, located on the Florida Panhandle, that he...

A majority of voters say former President Trump should definitely not run for president again, according to a new poll released Tuesday. A Politico-Morning Consult poll showed that 53 percent of registered voters believe he definitely should not run, while 12 percent said he probably shouldn’t. Less than 20 percent of respondents said he should definitely run, while only 12 percent said he probably should. The results come the same day that Trump is likely to announce his third bid for president at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla. The former president has received criticism from members of his...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) leads Republican challenger Tudor Dixon by about 9 points in her bid for reelection, according to a new poll. The poll from the Detroit-based NBC affiliate WDIV and The Detroit News found that 51.7 percent of likely voters support Whitmer and 43.1 percent support Dixon. The race has narrowed since September, when some polls were showing Whitmer leading by double digits and as much as 17 points. The latest poll showed Whitmer receiving support from Independents and even some Republicans. She received support from more than 57 percent of independents, while only 30 percent support...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came closer than previously reported to voting to convict former President Trump in the impeachment trial that followed the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, according to a new book set to be released next month. The Washington Post released an excerpt from “UNCHECKED: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump,” by the Post’s Karoun Demirjian and Politico’s Rachel Bade, that discusses how McConnell wrestled with whether to vote to convict Trump for inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. McConnell was pleased to see the wide range of Republicans...

A man confronted Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) on an airplane flight on Thursday about the senator not supporting stricter gun legislation in the aftermath of the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers in May. A video posted on the man’s Twitter account shows Cruz getting his belongings after the flight landed in Houston. In the video, the man first jokes, “We’re in Houston? I thought we were going to Cancun,” an apparent reference to Cruz taking a family vacation to the Mexican city while intense winter storms caused many Texas residents to lose power in...

New Hampshire state Senate President Chuck Morse (R), an establishment favorite, early Wednesday conceded defeat to retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc, who has espoused former President Trump’s false 2020 election claims, in the state’s Republican primary to face incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) in November. The Associated Press has not yet called the race for Bolduc, but he leads Morse by 1 percentage point with more than 80 percent of the vote reported.

Harriet Hageman, who defeated Rep. Liz Cheney for the Republican nomination to Wyoming’s at-large seat in the House, is scheduled to speak at a conservative think tank’s event on Monday recognizing Constitution Day. Hageman will be the featured guest at the Heritage Foundation’s online event, titled “Fighting to Protect the Constitution: What Are the Threats and How Do We Fight Back?” Hageman will discuss the “gravest threats” to the Constitution and how conservatives should fight to protect it, according to the Heritage Foundation’s event page. Constitution Day, which honors the day the Constitution was adopted, is on Saturday.