Free Republic

When Bill Kristol swore he would never vote for President Donald Trump, he meant it. The longtime conservative commentator took to Facebook today to admit that he is a Democrat—for now. In a tweet, the former editor-at-large of the now-defunct Weekly Standard, declared: "Not presumably forever; not perhaps for a day after Nov. 3, 2020; not on every issue or in every way until then. But for the time being one has to say: We are all Democrats now."

Our second amendment isn't under attack. Our state [Virginia] may well be under attack, though, if violent mobs succeed in assembling in Richmond Monday. A normal president would urge calm and offer assistance. But that is the way of a president, not of a demagogue. https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1218314204505092096

President Trump: Despite everything the failed ruling class has thrown at us — and don’t forget, when I came here, I didn’t have great experience. I mean, I learned quickly. I’ve been a very good spokesman. … But we went through eight years of Clinton, eight years of Bush, eight years of Obama. So we have Bush and Clinton and Obama. So, that’s 24 years. That’s a lot of people they put in. They put in. They put in. It’s thousands and thousands of people, and they fight you. And we have Republicans, frankly, that are worse. These Never Trumpers....

A national group called Republicans for the Rule of Law is running ads aimed at moving Sen. Lisa Murkowski off the sidelines. They want her to criticize President Trump for asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. But both of Alaska’s senators have said they see shades of grey in the Ukraine picture. This ad is showing up in Alaskans’ Facebook feeds. It’s focused, of course, on that call this summer, when Trump leaned on the Ukrainian president for an investigation of the Bidens. “We think she will be receptive to the message,” said Chris Truax, a San Diego attorney who...

Walsh, who supported Trump in 2016, rode the wave of the tea party movement in 2010 to win a seat in the House by 290 votes over Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean. Walsh was soundly defeated for reelection by Tammy Duckworth by nearly 10 percentage points in 2012, leading to his radio career. For the 57-year-old Walsh, his candidacy for president becomes the latest act in a public life that is in many ways befitting for a former student at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. His provocative rhetoric has given him an outsized national platform on cable news outlets...

Bill Kristol has at least found a candidate who has held elected office: Walsh served a single term in the House of Representatives, from 2011 to 2013. But in every other respect, Walsh is a worse candidate and man than either of Kristol’s previous no-chance candidates. At this point, Kristol might consider posting a Craigslist ad for President, then choosing someone at random; he would still likely end up with a more suitable candidate. The push for Joe Walsh represents more than the last gasp of the #NeverTrump movement. It is a manifestation of their desperation — and their contempt...

An organization comprised of life-long Republicans unveiled a new TV ad Thursday morning, taking aim at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for recently blocking election security bills as officials continue to warn about ongoing Russian efforts to subvert U.S. elections. The minute-long video, created by Republicans for the Rule of Law, comes as Democrats have blasted McConnell and other Senate Republicans for blocking votes on various House-passed measures that would, among other things, provide additional federal funding to states and would require post-election audits, back-up paper ballots and the notification of federal authorities about any offers from foreign entities to...

The “Never Trump” movement has a new ally: hedge fund boss Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired in 2017 after serving 11 days as communications director in President Donald Trump’s White House. Anti-Trump pundit and veteran Republican operative Bill Kristol confirmed to CNBC in a few brief text messages that he has spoken to Scaramucci since the SkyBridge Capital founder had a public falling out with Trump this summer. Asked whether he has spoken to Scaramucci about trying to find another presidential candidate to replace Trump on the top of the GOP ticket next year, Kristol said: “Yup.”

The “Never Trump” movement has a new ally: hedge fund boss Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired in 2017 after serving 11 days as communications director in President Donald Trump’s White House. Anti-Trump pundit and veteran Republican operative Bill Kristol confirmed to CNBC in a few brief text messages that he has spoken to Scaramucci since the SkyBridge Capital founder had a public falling out with Trump this summer. Asked whether he has spoken to Scaramucci about trying to find another presidential candidate to replace Trump on the top of the GOP ticket next year, Kristol said: “Yup.” But Kristol, who...

Friday on MSNBC, political commentator Bill Kristol called Republicans “cowardly” for not condemning President Donald Trump for his attacks on the so-called “The Squad,” made up of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN).

The president has once again (but even more obviously than usual) made clear his unapologetic bigotry, nativism and racism. Are GOP leaders, donors and voters still fine with re-nominating Donald Trump for president? Do they really believe the Republican Party can do no better? 10:41 AM · Jul 14, 2019 ·

Never Trumper Bill Kristol mocked Rudy Giuliani on Sunday for dropping out of a 2000 Senate race against Hillary Clinton after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Kristol tweeted this on Sunday night, so he has had plenty of time to realize his mistake, if he indeed made a mistake in not knowing about Giuliani’s 2000 cancer diagnosis. We all make mistakes, but by now Kristol knows this and has still not amended his tweet, so there is just no question Kristol deliberately mocked Giuliani for having cancer.

To the organizers of Jexodus, the movement to lure Jews away from the Democratic Party and over to the GOP, I have good news and bad news. The good news: There is a Jexodus! Jews, including many prominent intellectuals, have been bolting their longtime party en masse. The bad news: The party they are leaving is the GOP. Ever since the GOP rolled over and became the Party of Trump, normally stalwart Republican Jews have made it clear they can no longer abide what their party has become. The list includes Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin, Bill Kristol, David Frum, David...

There is a lesson from scandal of moonwalking Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.) being photographed in either in a KKK hood and sheet or blackface in his medical school yearbook. In 2017 Northam decisively defeated Ed Gillespie for governor 54 to 45. (As an aside, Bill Kristol backed Northam.) In that race, the Democrats played the race card for all it was worth, while Gillespie was as hapless as a deer in the headlights. This should not be a surprise. Democrats do what Democrats do -- play to win at any cost. And establishment Republicans do what establishment Republicans do --...

Shortened title. Full title: Former Weekly Standard staffers find new home at The Bulwark, a conservative site unafraid to take on Trump A handful of writers and editors who worked at The Weekly Standard, the now-defunct conservative magazine that was deeply critical of President Donald Trump until its sudden demise in December, have a new home. Starting Monday, Bill Kristol, a co-founder of The Weekly Standard, and Charlie Sykes, the former talk radio host and conservative commentator, will beef up The Bulwark, a conservative website that has until now served as an aggregator for Kristol's non-profit group, the Defending Democracy...

The Weekly Standard was a worthwhile publication. Unfortunately its rebirth as The Bulwark is set to be a good deal uglier with a radical leftist funder notorious for his backing of terrorist propaganda and anti-Semitism. A handful of writers and editors who worked at The Weekly Standard, the now-defunct conservative magazine that was deeply critical of President Donald Trump until its sudden demise in December, have a new home. Starting Monday, Bill Kristol, a co-founder of The Weekly Standard, and Charlie Sykes, the former talk radio host and conservative commentator, will beef up The Bulwark, a conservative website that has...

Nothing unites our political class like the threat of ending our never-ending war So we’re withdrawing troops from the Middle East. GOOD! What’s the War on Terror death count by now, a half-million? How much have we spent, $5 trillion? Five-and-a-half? Unless Donald Trump decides to reverse his decision to begin withdrawals from Syria and Afghanistan, cable news for the next few weeks is going to be one long Scanners marathon of exploding heads. “Today’s decision would cheer Moscow, ISIS, and Iran!” yelped Nicole Wallace, former George W. Bush communications director. “Maybe Trump will bring Republicans and Democrats together,” said...

Most of my fellow members of the mainstream media are of the opinion that last week was a bad one for President Donald Trump. I beg to differ. Last week it was announced that the Weekly Standard was going out of business. It seems there’s no market for a “conservative” publication dedicated to opposing Trump. That’s good news. It’s further proof that - if there’s one thing Trump has done since assuming office - it is solidifying his support among conservatives. As for the “conservatives” who worked in the offices of the Standard until last week, only inside the Beltway...

“Kristol was trying to remake the Republican Party,” Carlson says. A significant part of Kristol’s GOP makeover project was portraying antiwar conservatives as heretics. Carlson recounts, “Years later, writer Philip Weiss described a conversation he had with Kristol in which this [remaking the GOP] became explicit. There are Republicans, Kristol told Weiss, ‘of whom I disapprove so much that I won’t appear with them. That I’ve encouraged that they be expelled or not welcomed into the Republican Party.’” “’I’d be happy if Ron Paul left and ran as a third party candidate. I was very happy when Pat Buchanan was...

Trumpism (if not Trump himself) has given oxygen to some of the ugliest impulses among us. Near the end of his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump laid out his theory of a vast globalist conspiracy. “Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors,” Trump said. “It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a...