Free Republic

…In the days since special counsel Robert Hur released a report that described Biden’s memory as “significantly limited,” presidential appointees and friendly lawmakers have been stepping forward one by one to attest to his acuity. Biden asks “pertinent questions” and cares about “minute details,” they’ve told news outlets. He is “very engaging” and detail-oriented. The White House went so far as to put out a memo name-checking senior officials from both parties who’ve said they found Biden to be mentally sharp. For all the people vouching for Biden, some prominent Democrats aren’t persuaded that the approach will ease concerns about...

One of the new books currently being pushed by journalists desperately trying to pretend that they weren’t part of the cover-up of Biden’s decline, claims that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was terrified to face then Ohio Senator JD Vance in the vice presidential debate last fall. Anyone who was watching that debate knows that this was a major turning point in the election. Tim Walz seemed completely unprepared to answer difficult questions about his past and his record. He truly looked like a deer in headlights. JD Vance, on the other hand, was calm, cool, and collected. Vance answered questions...

… Having been given profuse support from the American people before the election, Harris reportedly felt “gaslit” after losing to her Republican candidate. According to the authors of Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House, Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, Harris was stunned by the election’s outcome. While talking on the “Somebody’s Gotta Win” podcast, Allen and Parnes told host Tara Palmeri that the former vice president attempted to initiate a “recount” after Trump’s victory. “She was completely shocked, and Tim Walz was shocked. We take you inside his hotel room at the Mayflower, and he's sitting there...

Democrats quietly hatched contingency plans to prepare for former President Joe Biden dying in office or removing himself from consideration to be the party’s 2024 nominee more than a year before Election Day, a new book claims. While the White House, party officials and media members like MSNBC host Joe Scarborough publicly testified to Biden’s fitness for office, aides to Vice President Kamala Harris privately “strategized around the possibility that Biden might die in office,” according to Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes’ upcoming book, “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” which was previewed by the Guardian. Officials...

Former President Barack Obama reportedly advocated against Democrats nominating Vice President Kamala Harris in the wake of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential election — because Obama didn’t think Harris could win, according to an upcoming book. The 44th president reportedly argued for an open convention rather than anointing Harris as the nominee after Biden’s shocking drop-out, despite her having support from other Democrats, according to reporter Jonathan Allen, co-author of “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.” “President Obama absolutely did not think that Joe Biden should continue, according to our sources close to...

The new book Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House by journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes was released on April 1. The book shares behind-the- scenes reporting of the 2024 campaign of former President Joe Biden, his decision to drop out of the race and the subsequent Harris campaign, which ultimately failed.(snip) "She was completely shocked, and Tim Walz was shocked. We take you inside his hotel room at the Mayflower, and he's sitting there stunned. He has no words," Parnes said on the podcast. "And people are kind of explaining to him, same thing with her....

A new book claims that Kamala Harris was stunned by her loss on election night 2024. She actually expected to win the race. Like many people on the left, she apparently believed the faulty polling that suggested she was ahead of Trump. Of course, we all know how that worked out in the end. It’s fun to imagine the reaction from people in her inner circle when it became obvious that Trump was running away with the win. FOX News reports: Harris was ‘completely shocked’ by defeat, believed she could’ve won with more time, author says

Former President Barack Obama sought to distance himself from the Democratic Party after leaving it in shambles following his departure from the White House, according to a new book. The book, “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” published by William Morrow and Company, claims that Obama was never a Democratic Party loyalist. Instead, the authors allege, Obama curried favor from a group of “black professionals” for his campaigns, unlike former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and former President Joe Biden. Additionally, Obama’s creation of Organizing for Action — a...

President Joe Biden’s campaign has already suffered a major slowdown in donations and officials are bracing for a seismic fundraising hit, with the fallout from a debate nearly two weeks ago taking a sizable toll on operations, according to four sources close to the re-election effort. “It’s already disastrous,” one of the sources close to Biden’s re-election said of fundraising. "The money has absolutely shut off" to the Biden campaign, another source close to Biden's re-election said. Two of the sources said this month is on a path to be down by possibly half — “or much more,” one of...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to discuss the future of his re-election campaign with family at Camp David on Sunday, following a nationally televised debate Thursday that left many fellow Democrats worried about his ability to beat former President Donald Trump in November, according to five people familiar with the matter. [Snip] So far, the party’s top leaders have offered public support for Biden, including in tweets posted by former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Senior congressional Democrats, including Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Nancy Pelosi of California, have privately...

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has taken his most significant step yet in exploring a White House bid, launching a national political organization that’s a popular tool for prospective presidential candidates testing the waters. The governor first confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday that he had formed the "Live Free or Die" committee (borrowed from his state’s nickname), a 501(c)(4) organization where politicians can raise unlimited funds. The donations don't have to be disclosed, and prospective candidates often use these political nonprofits as a way to gauge interest from donors.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s recent political revitalization hasn’t stopped some Democrats in competitive midterm races from treating him like an in-law: always welcome but seldom wanted. Democratic candidates are tiptoeing around his official visits, making case-by-case decisions about whether to appear with him. They're also speaking out against him on certain issues. One campaign outright said it wasn't interested in a Biden visit, while a veteran House Democrat told voters she is “fighting back” against the president. Democrats are walking a tightrope in characterizing their ties to Biden, which might seem counterintuitive considering the streak of legislative victories that...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Before a friendly audience of conservative moms, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday excoriated political opponents of wanting to “sexualize” children and warp kids’ understanding of race and history. The charged campaign rhetoric in remarks to the Moms for Liberty group was usual fare for DeSantis — and a major reason why he’s in the top tier of potential GOP presidential candidates who now sits on an unprecedented $130 million war chest. But the political backdrop was as atypical as unexpected: The day before his speech, one of the national teacher unions that opposes him released a...

At one recent rally, some of Trump's supporters said Putin should have free rein, while others advocated sending in U.S. troops. ...COMMERCE, Ga. — As former President Donald Trump tries to refine his message about Russia's war against Ukraine, his base is splintered over the question of America's engagement in Eastern Europe. "It's not our business," Peggy Bright, 57, said shortly before Trump spoke to an unusually restless and muted crowd here Saturday night... ...Alina Roberts, a Trump voter who was born in Latvia and lives in Atlanta, said at Saturday's rally that Putin cannot be stopped without direct U.S....

They are a distinct minority in their own party and, for that matter, their country: Republican holdouts amid an ever-widening consensus that Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine poses a mortal threat to American interests.A far right wing of the Republican Party tightly bound to former President Donald Trump is fighting to push the GOP toward the “America First” isolationism that underpinned his 2016 presidential bid.For the first time since Trump’s rise, his party is pushing back.That much was clear from the House vote Thursday on a bill ending normal trade relations with Russia as punishment for attacking Ukraine. A total...

WASHINGTON — It is rare that a president can show he is living up to the mantle of "leader of the free world" — and even less common for him to do so against the backdrop of his main political rival praising an autocrat. But that's what President Joe Biden did during his first State of the Union address, highlighting how he has led the Western world in defending Ukraine against Russia's invasion. "Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is waging a quiet campaign to keep his caucus from getting a whole lot Trumpier after the midterms. "He wants people who he knows are team players, people who are interested in solutions," said a GOP senator who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering fellow Republicans. "There are a lot of people who are running for office these days who have different agendas." In Alaska's Senate race, McConnell is backing incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski, who voted to convict former President Donald Trump on impeachment charges last year. She faces a Trump-backed...

Former President Donald Trump has discontinued his short-lived blog. "It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have [been] and are working on,” Trump adviser Jason Miller said in confirming the decision to scrap "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump." The news was first reported by CNBC. The move comes as Trump is set to return to the campaign trail in an effort to help Republicans win control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms as he considers whether to mount a third presidential campaign. "He’s pretty consistently said that he’ll make a decision after the...

Former President Barack Obama reportedly said the former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg couldn’t win the presidency because “he’s gay” and “short,” according to a new book on the 2020 presidential election. Obama expressed confidence in former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren during an October 2019 meeting with elite black donors in New York City, The Hill’s Amie Parnes and NBC’s Jonathan Allen described in the new book “Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency.” During the same meeting, the former president also joked about Buttigieg, citing his age, sexuality, and height, as reasons why he could not win the...

Coronavirus infection rates are spiking to new highs in several metropolitan areas and smaller communities across the country, according to undisclosed data the White House's pandemic task force is using to track rates of infection, which was obtained by NBC News. The data in a May 7 coronavirus task force report are at odds with President Donald Trump's declaration Monday that "all throughout the country, the numbers are coming down rapidly." The 10 top areas recorded surges of 72.4 percent or greater over a seven-day period compared to the previous week, according to a set of tables produced for the...