Free Republic

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) condemned President Donald Trump’s incursion into Venezuela and arrest of Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, calling it a “violation of federal and international law.” Mamdani, who was sworn in as New York’s first democratic socialist mayor on Jan. 1, wrote on X, “I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City. Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.” Mamdani continued,...

On Tuesday, Socialist New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment of Ramzi Kassem as the city’s top attorney. Kassem gained notoriety for defending al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi when he served as lead counsel. In 2014, al-Darbi pled guilty in connection with an al-Qaeda terrorist plot to bomb a French oil tanker near Yemen in 2002, leaving a civilian dead and several others injured. He was convicted in 2017 and ultimately transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2018. Al-Darbi’s brother-in-law was Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the five hijackers on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon during the September...

Students at the University of Nottingham are upset after a history course labeled J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as racially offensive. The controversy comes from a module called Decolonising Tolkien et al, taught by historian Dr. Onyeka Nubia, which examines how British literature has historically reflected racial bias. According to course materials, darker-skinned characters in Tolkien’s works, including orcs and other groups, are depicted as morally corrupt, while lighter-skinned characters are shown as virtuous. The module argues these depictions tie into a long tradition of racial stereotyping. The course also examines how Tolkien’s Eastern characters, such as Easterlings,...

“At the hearing, we will examine ongoing threats to free and fair elections posed by an out-of-control Trump administration, expose the election deniers who hold high-level positions of significance in the executive branch and detail the threats to public safety posed by the hundreds of violent felons who were pardoned on the President’s first day in office,” the New York Democrat wrote. “We will also present a panel of members who wish to share their personal experiences from that horrific day,” Jeffries said, calling on members "who wish to share their personal experiences from that horrific day."

When Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as mayor of New York City on Jan. 1, he will represent a range of demographics the city has not seen before in top leadership: South Asian, millennial, Muslim. But for New York’s hundreds of thousands of Muslim residents who have taken pride in seeing one of their own rise to the mayoralty, his inauguration will bring another special first, rooted in tradition and piety. During both of his swearing-in ceremonies, he will put his hand on the Quran, Islam’s holiest book, making him the first mayor in New York City to do so.

Katie Couric spoke out against "bothsidesism" in news coverage and insisted people don't want "just the facts" in the current media environment. (snip) "So what I try to do and what we try to do is help people stay abreast of everything that's happening, which is increasingly difficult given the velocity of things that are thrown at us primarily by this administration," Couric told host Dylan Byers. "But try to understand and give them some perspective and context and help explain in some cases why people need to be aware and concerned about some of the things that are happening...

Democratic Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan praised Somali migrants in the state during a visit to a market in a video posted on YouTube Thursday. President Donald Trump announced in November that he would end “Temporary Protected Status” for Somalis in the state in response to allegations of welfare fraud and said that the influx of refugees had “destroyed our country.” Flanagan, who wore a hijab, a head covering worn by some Muslim women, during her visit to the market, held a microphone during the video posted by Somali TV of Minnesota “Salam Alaikum. My name’s Peggy Flanagan. I am...

House Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty sued President Donald Trump on Monday -- hoping to force the removal of his name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The lawsuit from the congresswoman, who serves an ex-officio member of the board, argues that the board’s vote to rename the building was illegal because an act of Congress is required for such an action. "This is a flagrant violation of the rule of law, and it flies in the face of our constitutional order. Congress intended the Center to be a living memorial to President Kennedy -- and a...

Trump’s tariffs and immigration raids are driving the latest farm crisis. White farmers have stood by him year after year—and still do. On Monday, Donald Trump announced that his administration will give farmers a $12 billion bailout—a tacit admission that his trade policies suck. Farmers have spent much of the last year complaining about rising production costs, falling crop prices and the loss of multiple markets due to Trump’s tariffs and the trade wars they have launched. All in all, farmers are projected to lose roughly $44 billion in profits this year, in large part because of Trump administration policies....

Washington, DC, Council member Janeese Lewis George, a Democratic Socialist, launched her campaign for mayor of the nation’s capital on Monday – and she’s reportedly seeking to emulate Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral bid. Lewis George, 37, is seeking to replace DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who announced last week that she would not seek re-election to a fourth term. “Rent’s rising in homes people can’t afford. Folks are working hard and still feeling the squeeze, while the few in power rake in profits,” Lewis George said in a video announcing her run for mayor, echoing the rhetoric that propelled...

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) said he will file privileged articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump before Congress breaks for Christmas, which would force the House to consider them within two legislative days though they can be tabled. “There will be articles of impeachment filed before the Christmas break. This, I pledge. We have to participate. This is a participatory democracy. The impeachment requires the hands and the guidance of all of us,” Green said. Green said, “I am Al Green, an unbought, unbossed, unafraid, liberated Democrat. I will speak truth to power, which is pretty easy to do. You...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has said that imprisoning violent criminals is racist and immoral.

The secret fear of the loudest die-hard critics of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is not that he will fail as the city’s leader but that he has a very good chance of succeeding. If the new administration demonstrates it can deliver on its promise to lower the cost of living while managing our city efficiently and keeping the streets safe, it will become clear that the fearmongers who have been screaming warnings about a coming municipal apocalypse were peddling nonsense all along.

In the wake of New York City electing itself a real live communist for mayor earlier this month, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced a non-binding resolution to Congress this past week called "Denouncing the horrors of socialism." That means it doesn't create any sort of real law — it's largely symbolic, with the intention of affirming "that the United States rejects socialism and opposes the implementation of socialist policies that threaten the freedoms and prosperity that define our nation." Voting in favor of it should have been a no-brainer. It was for Republicans, at least: 199 voted in favor...

Belem, Brazil) — Crowned by global media outlets as the most important American at the United Nations “climate” summit in Belem, far-left California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) slammed U.S. President Donald Trump as an “invasive species” while signing deals with hostile foreign governments. The American president, Newsom suggested, must be stopped in order to save the world from alleged man-made climate change. Among other major announcements, Newsom inked a number of unconstitutional quasi-treaties with foreign governments — several of which are dominated by self-proclaimed communist and socialist leaders hostile to the United States. These “partnerships,” signed on the third day...

Michelle Obama says black people can’t swim or go to the gym due to “white people hair standards.” “Braids are for y’all so we can work harder.” “Why do we need an act of law to tell White folks to get outta our hair?”

SEATTLE — Seattle's new Mayor-elect Katie Wilson is addressing the public regarding her election and upcoming role as mayor on Thursday afternoon. After thanking her family, campaign team, volunteers, and canvassers, Wilson criticized the large amounts of money poured into her opponents' campaigns. "They might have the money, we had the people," Wilson triumphantly continued. "The working people of our city are tired. They are ready for something new, something more hopeful and just and equitable.” Wilson also listed what she wants to achieve as mayor. "I want everyone in this great city of ours to have a roof over...

Speaking in English, and reaching a US audience directly, he reiterated the Catholic belief that every Christian will ultimately be judged on how they welcomed "the foreigner". In some of his strongest criticism to date of President Donald Trump's administration, the first ever US-born pope also warned that the US bombing of Venezuelan ships, suspected of carrying drugs, risked increasing tensions in the region.

A member of the city council in New York recently outlined a plan to allocate almost $200 million in taxpayer funds to be used to legally defend illegal immigrants from ICE and the Trump administration.If you watch the video below, it is crystal clear that this woman and the people like her believe that their power supersedes the power of the federal government and federal immigration laws.It’s almost like these people think that New York City is a country within the country and that it belongs to them.From Stu Smith on Twitter/X:NYC Council Member Tiffany Cabán, a Democratic Socialists of...

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani wasted no time calling out President Donald Trump, formally kicking off the battle that will likely define relations between the 34-year-old mayor and the president whose celebrity is tied to the city. "Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!" Mamdani, a Democrat, said during a Tuesday night speech to a raucous crowd of supporters shortly after being declared the victor.