Free Republic

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham sent GOP Leader Mitch McConnell a very clear message Wednesday night: Get on board with Donald Trump or get out. Asked by Fox's Sean Hannity about the "swampiness" of the Kentucky senator, Graham answered this way: "Elections are about the future. If you want to be a Republican leader in the House or the Senate, you have to have a working relationship with Donald Trump. Can Senator McConnell effectively work with the leader of the Republican party, Donald Trump? He is the most consequential Republican since Ronald Reagan. It's his nomination if he wants it....

Wednesday on FNC’s “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) raised the possibility of not supporting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) given a perception McConnell and former President Donald Trump don’t have a good relationship. Graham encouraged McConnell to have that relationship and make the case for Trump-era policies. Otherwise, the South Carolina Republican said McConnell would “fail.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) cast doubt on the possibility of supporting Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for Republican Senate Leader again.

WILLIAMSTOWN, KY—The wildly popular Ark Encounter attraction in Kentucky will soon be joined by a baptismal-themed log flume ride. The log ride will have guests tossed to and fro by the water rapids of sin before experiencing a 3-story drop into the water so they can be raised to walk in newness of life. Riders will then gently glide by a giant animatronic Ken Ham statue that will fill them in on all the next steps they need to take as new believers. "Our Ark Encounter is specially designed to offer a full gospel message to everyone who visits the...

A CRACK team of scuba-diving sleuths has solved a staggering seven cold cases in just two months, bringing much-needed closure to heartbroken families who had been left without answers for years. The group, known as Chaos Divers, operates out of Southern Illinois and is comprised of divers Jacob Grubbs and Eric Bussick, and head of logistics Lindsey Bussick. The group users sonar technology to help solve cold cases that in some instances have been open for decades. Between October and December of last year, the trio managed to solve seven missing persons cases in a number of different states, including...

First lady Jill Biden will make a visit to Kentucky on Thursday to accompany state and federal officials as they survey the damage from the tornados that tore through the state last month. "First Lady Jill Biden and Deputy FEMA Administrator Erik Hooks will travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky where they will join Governor Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear to survey recovery efforts following the devastation from recent tornadoes," the White House said in a statement.

A seven year-old girl left badly injured because of a tornado that killed her nine year-old sibling couldn't contain her excitement after receiving boxes of Christmas gifts from Donald and Melania Trump. An enthusiastic Avalinn Rackley, 7, reacted to the news when filmed by her grandmother, Pam Moore, weeks after her older sister and best friend Annistyn was killed by a tornado that also destroyed the family home in Caruthersville, Missouri on December 10. 'These boxes came in the mail, and they are from...President Trump! Both of these boxes. Can you believe it?' Moore says as Avalinn grins with expectation....

Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell said the GOP would “certainly welcome” West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin “if he was so inclined” to flip parties. Manchin has been bashed by his partisan colleagues for pledging to vote against President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan. Speaking on Fox News’ “The Guy Benson Show” podcast, the Kentucky senator called Manchin’s no vote “the single greatest favor Joe Manchin could give this country,” amid rising inflation costs. McConnell said he wasn’t sure how Manchin would vote but is pleased that his decision effectively ends any chance that the bill will get the...

In a 29-page order, U.S. district judge Gregory Van Tatenhove actually got it right on vaccine mandates — but not for reasons cited by either side of this contentious issue. The George W. Bush nominee wrote, "This is not a case about whether vaccines are effective. They are. Nor is this a case about whether the government, at some level and in some circumstances, can require citizens to obtain vaccines. It can." Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove further made his case, writing, "The question presented here is narrow. Can the president use congressionally delegated authority to manage the federal procurement of...

There are now 23 Democrats who won't seek reelection in the 2022 midterms as Representative Albio Sires from New Jersey plans to retire and party leadership desperately grips their slim majority in the House.... ...With a series of upcoming retirements, Democrats' majority in the House looks increasingly vulnerable, and Pelosi can only afford to lose three seats in order to keep her party in power.... [list of the 23 at link]

Fifteen state financial officers sent a letter to U.S. banks last week noting $600 billion in assets they pledge to take elsewhere if the financial institutions embrace corporate wokeism and prohibit financing to the fossil fuel industry. Led by West Virginia Republican Treasurer Riley Moore, the group promised “collective action” in the form of an “economic boycott.” “Just as each state represented in this letter is unique in its governing laws and economy, our actions will take different forms,” they wrote in the letter obtained by The Federalist. “However, the overarching objective of our actions will be the same –...

As a moderate, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski sometimes votes with the Republican fold, sometimes against. And sometimes she does both on the same issue, as she did this month on raising the debt limit. Last week, Murkowski broke with most of her party when she voted to make it easier for the Senate to pass an increase in the national debt limit. “Because it was the right thing to do,” Murkowski told reporters. Without an increase, the government would run out of money to pay military and civilian salaries, debt payments and other spending Congress has already agreed to. Murkowski...

Katie Britt’s getting a boost from her former boss, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, in her bid to replace him in the Senate. Sen. Richard Shelby plans to use his own campaign funds and sway with colleagues to help Britt overcome Donald Trump-backed primary opposition. Amid a whirlwind of fundraisers and meetings for Britt this month in Washington, many of Shelby’s colleagues described her as extremely well-qualified to succeed him after he retires next year and possibly even win a slot on the powerful committee that oversees $1.3 trillion in annual spending. Shelby’s made no secret of his...

@RepThomasMassie Show me where in Kentucky you can get a bonafide FDA approved COVID vaccine @Joe_Gerth Hint: you can’t. Even the CDC website says they’re not available @Joe_Gerth A US Congressman is flat-out lying here. @RepThomasMassie .⁦⁦⁦@dpfunke⁩ of ⁦@USATODAY⁩, your article is misleading and wrong. Comirnaty is not available in the US. Do you lack the intellectual curiosity to wonder why, legally, there is no FDA approved COVID vaccine available in the US?

Cars still being inspected, number could rise Supposedly, those remade orders will be prioritized when production lines reopen this week. The scrappage number could increase. There were Corvettes parked outside the facility for shipping that are still being checked for damage. A skeleton crew of 90 skilled workers from UAW Local 2164 has stayed on the job since the weather disturbance, out of 1,200 total line workers. GM quickly moved people and resources from facilities as far away as Detroit to help rebuild, so GM's intention to begin the process of making Bowling Green fully operational on Monday, December 20...

Two babies survived a tornado in Kentucky last weekend that ripped the bathtub they were sheltering in out of the ground and tossed it with them inside, their grandmother said. Clara Lutz told WFIE-TV that she put 15-month-old Kaden and 3-month-old Dallas in the bathtub last Friday with a blanket, a pillow and a Bible. Then the house in Hopkins County started shaking. “Next thing I knew, the tub had lifted and it was out of my hands,” Lutz said. "I couldn’t hold on. I just – oh my God.” Lutz, who had been hit in the back of the...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, poses a "direct challenge" to former President Donald Trump and has "betrayed" the GOP, former White House strategist Steve Bannon believes. Bannon, who served as the CEO of Trump's 2016 campaign and then as a chief strategist in the former president's administration, slammed McConnell during the Friday episode of his War Room podcast. His remarks came after McConnell gave an interview to Spectrum News this week in which he spoke favorably of the work being done by the House select committee investigating the pro-Trump January 6 attack against the U.S. Capitol, calling...

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene fired off a late-night tweet blasting Mitch McConnell as “Biden’s bitch” over a deal the Senate Minority Leader struck giving Democrats the votes necessary to raise the debt ceiling. Lawmakers in the Senate voted 50-49 to raise the debt limit by $2.5 trillion. This happened only after 14 Republicans joined Democrats in offering a one-time exception to suspend the filibuster, allowing Democrats exclusively to vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling. It was a deal crafted by McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The House voted approval after midnight, something that clearly angered Greene...

Alaska Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka made a provocative announcement. "Mitch McConnell has repeatedly bailed out Joe Biden, giving him gifts of Senate votes, which are the only things keeping the Biden administration on life support," Tshibaka said about the Senate's highest-ranking Republican, adding: "When I defeat [Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa] Murkowski and become Alaska's next U.S. Senator, I will not support Mitch McConnell as leader. It's time for new, America First leadership in the Senate." Which is, in and of itself, is not terribly surprising. After all, McConnell is supporting Murkowski in her reelection bid, which gives Tshibaka plenty of...

Unable to pass their welfare-state expansion with a simple majority, Democrats have reportedly shelved Build Back Better for the year. Now prepare for the entire left-wing infrastructure -- politicians as well as the establishment press -- to pivot hard from the fake "social safety net" bill to the fake "voting rights" bill, which will quickly become the most vital piece of legislation in the history of the republic. Just earlier today, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, who not long ago heralded the mere framework of Build Back Better as "by far the most significant piece of legislation ever passed...