Free Republic

Instead of a statue of Queen Elizabeth, Trafalgar Square will feature "transgender sex workers". Satire is practically pointless nowadays. I’ve done plenty of satire over the years and I doubt that I could make up wilder headlines than the reality. Take this one up above. I’d like to say that I made it up, but we ended up living in a world in which it’s just everyday reality. Sadiq Khan has been criticised for effectively blocking a statue of Queen Elizabeth II in Trafalgar Square until 2030 at the earliest – with “woke art” going there instead. The London Mayor...

During an interview aired on Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston responded to a question on Denver residents who are frustrated that the city is cutting services due to budget shortfalls caused by the influx of migrants in the city by stating that “The dilemma is when you have values on both sides and you have to manage those values. We have a value of being a welcoming, compassionate city.” And there are some cuts to migrant services. Johnston said, “We’ve asked every agency in the city to take a look at what they could do...

On Thursday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) said that if you don’t have metal detectors, “then how can we ever fully be safe in a city, a state, and, perhaps, a country where we know that people are freely walking around with AR-15s, with modified handguns with switches, with any number of issues, or frankly, even just your old classic revolver?” And “If we know that one can act with impunity with that, then it’s hard to say we’ll ever be fully as safe as I think we’d like to idealize ourselves to...

Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Thursday joined other major-city leaders from her party supporting a California ballot initiative that would increase penalties for certain retail theft and drug crimes, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Our goal is not to keep people locked up,” said Breed, who is running for reelection in 2024, according to the Chronicle. “But when there are no real consequences for crimes that are committed in this city, that’s a real problem.”

Mayor Tiffany Henyard (D) of Dolton, Illinois, got heated with officials Monday when they questioned her on issues that have brought a wave of criticism. Fox News reported Thursday that she was pelted with questions about her controversial spending habits and transparency. Dolton mayor to critics: ‘I’m the leader!’https://t.co/edgYdM3jLN — WGN TV News (@WGNNews) February 7, 2024 Video footage shows the meeting with Henyard speaking to fellow officials. She said, “Y’all should be ashamed of y’all selves. Y’all black. Y’all are black. And y’all sitting up here beating and attacking on a black woman that’s in power. You should be...

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) sounded the alarm that his city is nearing a “breaking point” as it struggles to keep up with the flood of migrants. “I think our city is very close to its breaking point now,” Johnston said in an interview aired Wednesday on “Fox & Friends. “And we’ve been talking to leaders in D.C. around the country about why we need them to take action here. I think we have successfully welcomed almost 40,000 migrants in the last year and — and we know what it takes to do this successfully, we just need that help,”...

The Democratic mayor of Edison, New Jersey, is facing criticism after saying immigrants "aren't welcome" there amid an uptick in migrants arriving in cities across the United States. Democratic mayors are facing new pressure as thousands of migrants have been transported from the U.S.-Mexico border to cities including New York and Chicago. There were more than 2.4 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” Trenton, NJ Mayor Reed Gusciora said that the city doesn’t have the resources to deal with migrants, but responded to a question on whether he thinks New Jersey being a sanctuary state is a good idea by stating that “sanctuary state or city means different things to different folks.” And that Trenton encourages “migrants who live in the capital city to cooperate with police. And that’s how I see a sanctuary city forming.”

On Tuesday’s edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press Now,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that the sanctuary city will “hit a capacity at which we just won’t be able anymore to manage the amount of inflow” and “we’re hitting a breaking point at which there’s just not enough volume of work or housing in the city to support this ongoing volume,” and so they’ll have to consider turning away buses of migrants. Host Garrett Haake asked, “[Y]ou’ve said you’ve not considered turning away any of these buses of migrants that are coming to your city. But is there a point...

While speaking to New York ABC affiliate WABC on Monday, Edison, New Jersey Mayor Sam Joshi (D) stated that he turned a bus full of migrants sent to the city back because local police “did not know if any of those 40 individuals were carrying weapons, they couldn’t be identified.” And this is “a major security risk. It’s a health risk. And we’re just not going to tolerate that.” Joshi, who plans to send migrants back to the border, also stated that he doesn’t want to pawn problems off on other mayors. WABC New Jersey Reporter Toni Yates stated, “The...

Social media users tore into Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson after he complained about Gov. Greg Abbott flying illegal immigrants into his city without warning him. Johnson took to the X platform on Sunday to lament the fact that a plane from San Antonio had brought in hundreds of U.S. Southern Border crossers without his knowledge. The mayor's posts were met with conservative users mocking him for not being more welcoming, as the city’s government has proclaimed Chicago to be a "sanctuary city." The mayor wrote, "This morning just after 1 a.m., a private Boeing 777 originating from San Antonio, Texas...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) was “determined to continue to sow seeds of chaos” with migrant transport to his cities. “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan said, “Thanks for joining us. And, Mr. Mayor of Chicago, I want to put to you a question about what seems to have developed overnight. There are reports of a plane from Texas landing in Chicago carrying more migrants that arrived around 1am. I’m wondering if Texas officials gave you any heads up, who’s on the plane, what happens next?”

During an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said that if the sanctuary city doesn’t get help from the federal government to deal with the financial impacts of the migrant influx in the city, the budget impact of dealing with migrants will be so large that they’ll have to cut the rest of their budget by about 10%, which would be a deeper cut than the cuts they made during the recession in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Johnston stated that he doesn’t know where he’d make cuts, but “We’re having that hard conversation with...

The newly elected Democrat mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, celebrated the removal of a Confederate statue in the city, which was officially gone before noon Wednesday. Democrat Mayor Donna Deegan, who won her mayoral bid in May, celebrated the removal of the statue in Springfield Park, formally known as Confederate Park. The monument in question, “In Memory of Our Women of the Southland,” depicts a mother with her two children at her side, looking down at a book upon her lap. It was erected in October 1915. The Democrat mayor, who said during her time on the campaign trail that she...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pleaded Wednesday for the federal government to take a bigger role in tackling the migrant crisis, warning that the Windy City and other parts of the US are being overwhelmed by new arrivals. “Without real, significant investment from our federal government, it won’t just be the city of Chicago that won’t be able to maintain this mission,” Johnson told CNN. “It’s the entire country that is now at stake.” Johnson, 47, explained that he’s asked the Biden administration to set aside $15 billion worth of resources to address the issue. Biden requested $13.6 billion for border...

On Wednesday’s “CNN News Central,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that his sanctuary city “is now ground zero for America’s migrant crisis.” And that one thing they need the federal government to do is distribute migrants to different cities around the U.S. Johnston said, “I think that Denver is now ground zero for America’s migrant crisis. We are, at this moment now, the single largest recipient city of any city in America per capita. We actually have more than two times as many migrants as the next city behind us based on our population. We’ve received more than a hundred...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) said Wednesday “CNN This Morning” that the current migrant influx into his city was “not sustainable” without “significant federal support.” Johnson said, “Since taking office a little bit over seven months ago, my administration has responded to this humanitarian mission with the full force of government. We have roughly 15,000 people living in shelters, temporary shelters here in Chicago, nearly 27 shelters. A total of 4500 children are in our Chicago public schools system, providing health care and also making sure that we are screening individuals as they come through the city of Chicago, providing,...

A well-known Chicago activist has called for Donald Trump to 'come in here and clean up this mess', decrying the influx of migrants and urging authorities to 'send them all back'. George Blakemore, 81, has for the last 40 years attended every public meeting he can, from City Council to the Chicago Board of Education to the Water Reclamation District, Block Club Chicago reported. Earlier this month, at a city council hearing to discuss putting Chicago's sanctuary city status on the ballot in March, Blakemore spoke out against Chicago's current policy towards migrants. More than 26,000 migrants have arrived in...

We have good and bad news to report. First, the good news for the people of Houston, Texas.Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) was running to become mayor of Houston. But she found herself in a difficult race with the powerful state Sen. John Whitmire, also a Democrat. She got the endorsement of Hillary Clinton, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). But even with those heavy hitters coming out for her, she still lost. Badly. Houston held the run-off election on Saturday, and Whitmire just completely trounced Jackson Lee by almost 30 points. Houston, we dodged a problem!...

Former Democratic Nashville Mayor Megan Barry on Wednesday announced a U.S. House bid to unseat Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., seeking a political comeback more than five years after she faced now-dismissed criminal charges linked to her having an extramarital affair with her city-employed bodyguard. In her announcement video, she cited several reasons for trying to return to elected office: a spate of mass shootings at schools, including earlier this year at a Nashville Christian elementary school, which was carried out by a transgender activist and former student; Tennessee's abortion ban; the closure of rural hospitals; and the opioid epidemic. "Today,...