Free Republic

Democrats stormed to victory in the Senate on Tuesday, delivering a devastating loss for Republicans that once seemed improbable just a few months ago. In a dramatic blue tsunami, Democrats racked up shocking wins in deep red states, including Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, South Carolina, and Texas — in a massive rebuke of President Trump and GOP control of government.

The New York Times came in for online mockery Tuesday after a list it published of Jewish voters saying they would back Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for Senate included the unfortunate moniker “Jack Mehoff.”The Times initially reported Sept. 17 on the letter, which it said was signed by “more than 500 people who identify as Jewish leaders or voters” in the Mitten State and insisted that El-Sayed is “clearly the better choice for Jews.” *** Records reviewed by The Post lists someone named Jack Mehoff as living on campus at Michigan State University in East Lansing. The university did not...

Anakin Skywalker, the iconic character from the Star Wars saga, has gained renewed prominence on social media as growing numbers of users identify him with social disillusionment, distrust of institutions and rejection of political elites. The phenomenon has raised concerns among some analysts, who warn that his image could be appropriated to spread extremist narratives. For some internet users, Anakin represents a talented young man who feels betrayed by the institutions he once trusted. His frustration with the Jedi Council has become a metaphor for tensions experienced by certain sections of society, particularly those concerned about illegal immigration, public safety,...

Whenever a Republican crosses over to vote for a Democrat, you can bet on at least one of two things happening: the Democrats applaud this brave act of putting country over party or we learn that the so-called "lifelong Republican" was not. In this case, we learned that the Republican who penned an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News was actually a paid operative for Gina Hinojosa. But what The Dallas Morning News didn't dig into was that the writer, Suzanne Bellsnyder, received $57,000 in consulting payments from the Gina Hinojosa campaign.

Turnout, turnout, turnout. The New York Times’ final midterm prediction doesn’t look good for Republicans, as the NYT/Siena poll shows Democrats expecting to sweep every swing-state Senate race. Most other forecasts also paint a grim picture for Republicans’ chances of holding the Senate, while the House appears poised to swing toward Democrats, as the “people’s house” typically swings against the president’s party during midterms. But Republicans need to remember that polls are not the elections themselves. And while the polling picture favors Democrats, turnout is where Republicans have the opportunity to make these races far closer.

Risks growing as diplomatic efforts remain stalled and Iran threatens unrestrained retaliation DUBAI—America’s Gulf allies are steeling themselves for a heavy U.S. bombardment of Iran that they expect to trigger a vicious cycle of retaliation against their own economic and civilian infrastructure as early as this week.The Trump administration and Arab mediators are making a number of efforts to reach a negotiated end to the conflict. But the lack of progress paired with U.S. and Iranian threats of especially ferocious fighting if the conflict resurges are heightening concerns across the region.President Trump has been leaning toward a large postelection attack...

Donald Trump is secretly asking close advisers about whether Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine should be fired after the midterms, even as he weighs restarting the bombing of Iran.The president has been quizzing allies on the performance of his defense secretary and his Joint Chiefs chairman, the two men who assured him the war would be wrapped up well before the midterms, according to the Atlantic. *** As Republicans face the real possibility of losing the House and Senate, Trump has concluded the Iran war would be partly to blame and trained his attention on the advisers who promised...

The Dallas Morning News published a glowing opinion piece praising Texas Democrat gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa. The author was billed as a “longtime Republican” and former staffer for Republican lawmakers. There was just one problem: the author was on Hinojosa’s payroll.

Republicans are trailing Democrats in seven key Senate battlegrounds, including longtime GOP strongholds Texas and Kansas, according to a poll released Sunday, just days before the midterm elections. The New York Times/Siena poll found Democratic candidates leading in five states currently represented by Republican senators — Alaska, Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas — while the race in Iowa is virtually tied. In Michigan, the only Democratic-held Senate seat surveyed, the party's candidate holds a double-digit lead. Don Levy, executive director of the Siena Research Institute, said the results suggest Democrats could capture control of the Senate, though he cautioned that...

• Stevens defends switch: Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens told CNN her decision to back Republican Mike Rogers is “rock solid,” but refused to articulate why she changed her mind. Her surprise switch came after a deepening rift with Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed. Since her switch, El-Sayed has raised $1.2 million, his second-largest total in a single day. He’s leading Rogers by 11 points in a New York Times poll. • Swift fallout: Democrats have condemned Stevens’ move, including Rep. Debbie Dingell, who expressed concern for her. Top Republicans, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump, have...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was right to grant a visa to Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro and his family. As President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, grows increasingly vindictive and authoritarian, the United States should make clear that political persecution has adverse consequences. Supporting freedom and democracy in Latin America means standing behind those whose right to challenge the government is under threat. Offering protection to an opposition leader in the region’s biggest and most populous nation upholds America’s principles and serves its strategic interests. Bolsonaro and his family arrived in the U.S. this week after...

*** “It’s just an environment of possible retribution,” Mr. Wood said. “It is that fear she instills.” Over nearly 30 years, Ms. Collins, a self-styled moderate in a familiar Maine mold, has cultivated a public persona as a workhorse and a fastidious maestro of constituent services and pork-barrel disbursements, using her Washington know-how to get her constituents what they need. But for just as long, her detractors say, she has managed to mostly mask another reality. “The gentlewoman from Maine,” as her colleagues say on the Senate floor, is a formidable power broker who can play a fierce brand of...

Citizens groups are volunteering to guard against possible federal interference nationwide CHANDLER, Ariz. — At balloon-adorned tables in red, white and blue, a handful of voters inside a church gymnasium listened as Medina Moore explained what to do if federal agents show up at the polls.Call a hotline, she told volunteers, where attorneys will be ready to respond. Take videos, report what you see and remove yourself from any situation that becomes intense, she advised.It was one of Moore’s final poll monitor trainings in the Phoenix area before election day, preparing a few new “peacekeepers” to join the ranks of...

For a country that over the last 25 years has come to associate religious scandal with the Catholic church, Julie Roys is here to tell us something: Other Christian churches also have their fair share of failings, whether involving sexual abuse, financial misconduct or some other hypocrisy running counter to Jesus’ teachings. The proof is Roys’ news web site called Roys Report that regularly publishes articles — many investigative in nature — on troubles in evangelical Christian congregations and organizations. “There are wonderful pastors out there,” Roys said. “But there are a lot of bad ones, too.” “It’s not just...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that there will be a “peaceful transfer of power” when new House members are set to join the lower chamber next year. “Of course, we’ll have a peaceful transfer of power, but it will not be transferring because we are going to keep the majority, and I’m going to be the Speaker of the House, and I will keep steady hands at the wheel, OK?” Johnson said, responding to MS NOW reporter Mychael Schnell in a clip she posted to the social platform X on Tuesday. “Look, you know my background. I’m a...

Democrats are brazenly promising to throw the door wide open to fraud if they win back control of Congress this November – yet the media has virtually ignored it. Earlier this month, House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries unveiled a “first 100 days” agenda that his party plans to implement come January to deliver on “affordability.” A central part of that agenda is reversing what Democrats call the Trump administration’s “Medicaid cuts” passed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) last year. The New York Times has uncritically parroted this framing, describing the plan as a “shock-and-awe legislative sprint...

Oh look, the snowflakes are melting again. President Trump's planned 250-foot-tall arch would cast shadows on many graves and monuments in nearby Arlington National Cemetery, the @washingtonpost's 3-D analysis found. On some days, Trump's arch would even shade the grave and eternal flame of JFK. https://t.co/uWuEsJcpGW— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) October 27, 2026They made a 3D rendering!! TDS TO THE MAX. 🤡 Trump wants to build a big beautiful arch. And yes, that's making liberals mad for some reason. They even analyzed every single grave or monument that would be touched briefly by the shadow of the arch, then added up...

Beatrice Keul alleges Trump raped her at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in November 1993 House Democrats’ report details the allegations and examines Trump’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein The White House denies the allegations, saying they are untrue and Trump has been “fully exonerated” in connection with Epstein SNIP

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered aides to fetch him a globe associated with legendary World War II General Dwight Eisenhower — and they broke it, The Washington Post reported Thursday. According to the Post, the large orb fell while being carried by untrained staff, resulting in the loss of a large chunk of the world near Antarctica. The Post reported that historic items are typically moved around the Pentagon premises by trained curators. However, Hegseth’s office had dispatched its own team. A Pentagon official told AFP in a statement that “an accident” had occurred. However, the statement referred to the...

Who edits this stuff? A rant from the New York Times editorial board compares the Trump administration to some of history’s worst dictatorships:The revocation of a political opponent’s citizenship has long been a tool of authoritarian repression.The Soviet Union stripped Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the dissident author, of his citizenship in 1974 and deported him to West Germany. Czechoslovakia revoked the citizenship of Milan Kundera, another celebrated author, in 1979. East Germany and Romania, under Communist rule, took similar steps against critics, as did Chile under Augusto Pinochet, Greece under its military dictatorship, Germany under Hitler and Italy under Mussolini. More recently,...