Free Republic

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that China’s escalation of tariffs is a “big mistake” because it is playing a “losing hand.” Bessent said, “If we put up a tariff wall, the ultimate goal would be to bring jobs back to the U.S. But in the meantime, we will be collecting substantial tariffs. If we’re successful, tariffs would be a melting ice cube, in a way, because you’re taking in the revenues as the manufacturing facilities are built in the U.S., and there should be some level of symmetry between the taxes we begin taking in...

President Trump’s public debacle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky halted hopes for a signed minerals agreement while dividing the world — and Washington — over their support for them both. Long-simmering tensions between Trump and Zelensky exploded into the open during a heated Oval Office exchange that will have ramifications for the U.S., Russia, Ukraine and all of Europe. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called his vote to confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in that meeting with Trump and Zelensky, “a mistake” in a Sunday interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It was a mistake. I think...

EPA boss Lee Zeldin’s push to rescind the White House’s 2009 finding on greenhouse gases marks another great milestone on President Trump’s climate course correction. But it’s long past time for the entire West to admit it: The whole anti-carbon crusade declared in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement has proved a disaster — wrecking economies and worsening lives without making a real difference on climate change. Here at home, the 2009 (Obama-era) “finding” declared that greenhouse gases endanger public health, and so provided a legal pretext for destructive “climate agenda” mandates on everything from power plants to cars to gas...

During an interview with CBS’s “The Takeout” podcast released on Friday, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) wondered why the Biden administration can’t admit it made a mistake with Afghanistan and said, “When you make a mistake and you can’t own up to it, then that means, did you make it intentionally then, since you don’t think it’s a mistake?” While discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy, Manchin said, [relevant remarks begin around 10:25] “[W]hen they said, do you support everything that was done? I’m on the team. I’m number two. This is not my gameplan. I didn’t put the gameplan out....

Pima County reported incorrect numbers of uncounted ballots on Friday, due to what county officials say was a clerical error. The error didn’t become public until an attorney for Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake complained. The estimated number of uncounted ballots reported by the county went up in a two-hour period Friday, Lake’s attorney Jennifer Wright pointed out in a letter to county officials. “Kari Lake for Arizona demands that Pima County provide an immediate explanation of the discrepancies in the numbers combined with complete and accurate accounting of how the number of uncounted ballots increased between the 1:23 p.m....

Wednesday on CNN, network contributor Scott Jennings derided Vice President Kamala Harris for her comments criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) amid Hurricane Milton’s track to his state’s west coast. Jenning called Harris’ move a “big campaign mistake,” noting that Harris’ comments contradicted President Joe Biden’s remarks about the Florida governor. “In all of your public communications, no matter what you’re doing, you have to always show that American people that you have their fellow citizens in your heart,” Jennings said. “I mean, this is the kind of historic storm that some people aren’t going to survive it. There’s going to...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to Pennsylvania, where he appeared with Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) in what many Republicans saw as a political event. Graham told reporters at the Capitol that “what happened in Pennsylvania was a mistake.” Graham said he didn’t know who set the meeting up and that Zelensky’s visit to a munitions factory to thank workers “makes sense.” But the political overtones of the trip, Graham suggested, should have been avoided. “Whether it was intended or not, [it] has a political perception, and that was a mistake,” Graham said. But...

Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” that Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) made a mistake with his comments about childless cat ladies. Host Bret Baier said, “What do you make of this? Obviously the media is covering this honeymoon already of the Kamala Harris nomination before it happens but the Vance stuff is he clearly under attack.” Hume said, “It reminds me of 2008 when John McCain to the surprise of many chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate. She got off to what and to be a great start. She...

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said it was a “mistake” for Democrats to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving an address to Congress. “I believe it was, and I’ve expressed that view,” he said when asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation” whether it was a mistake for Democrats to support the visit. “But the reality is, obviously, he came. So for those of us who thought it was a mistake to have him here, we expressed our views by not participating.”

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that President Joe Biden's administration does not view the killings of Palestinian Arabs in Gaza by Israel in its war with Hamas as genocide, Reuters reported. Sullivan said the United States wants to see Hamas defeated, adding that Gazans caught in the middle of the war were in "hell" and that a major military operation by Israel in Rafah would be a mistake. "We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. We have been firmly on record rejecting that proposition," he said. .....

...A slew of fans took to the comment section to say that while they agree a Doja Cat concert is not appropriate for younger audiences, they do not appreciate the “Boss Bitch” singer calling their children a “mistake.” “Saying leave kids at home is fine like wholly agree for a doja cat gig but reducing children to ‘mistakes’ omg can you take a day off,” one X/Twitter user reacted. “I agree that certain songs are not for kids. But to leave ya ‘mistake’ at home, that’s nasty,” another commented. “The last part was so unnecessary,” a third said of Doja...

Despite relentless attacks from left-wing media and threats of violent jihad from Muslims, Modi has remained steadfast in his pursuit to protect minorities facing persecution in Islamic nations. Through groundbreaking CAA legislation, he offers sanctuary to victims of Islamic persecution, contrasting sharply with Western countries that extend entry to those persecuting non-Muslim minorities. On Monday, March 11, the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took a significant step in addressing religious persecution by officially implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This piece of legislation, passed in December 2019, aims to provide a haven for minorities such as Hindus,...

Germany fully bought into the green energy transition, but its economy is now showing serious signs of weakness as a prolonged energy crisis runs its course. The country is aiming to have its energy supply and demand reach “net-zero” emissions by 2050, relying on sources like wind, solar and hydrogen fuels after former Prime Minister Angela Merkel decided in 2011 to eventually shutter the country’s nuclear power plant fleet. Despite the German government’s regulatory and spending blitz to usher in the green transition, the country is not on track to meet its climate goals, but its decision to rely on...

Russian language transcript at the link. Synopsis: Pro-Russian political scientist Sergey Markov states that Russia was ill prepared for their war against Ukraine. The discussion gets very heated as it progresses.

Several days after Business Insider admitted they had published inaccurate numbers of state residents that moved to Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin cited them and used them in an attack piece about Gov. Ron DeSantis’, R-Fla., leadership of the state. Rubin published the column Friday in which she claimed, "DeSantis likes to brag that more people are moving to Florida than ever. Not so fast. ‘An estimated 674,740 people reported that their permanent address changed from Florida to another state in 2021.’" Those numbers are wrong and the Post, in a correction on Saturday, admitting...

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that it was a “terrible mistake” owner Elon Musk‘s restored Donald Trump‘s access to Twitter. Anchor Jon Karl said, “I want to begin with the news that Donald Trump has been reinstated by Elon Musk on Twitter. Watching the January 6 committee hearings, Trump’s tweets were a big part of the story to be told. What do you think of him being back on Twitter?”

President Biden on Saturday criticized a tax cut plan that British Prime Minister Liz Truss has now largely backed away from as a “mistake.” “Well, it’s predictable. I mean, I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake,” Biden said during a trip to Portland, Ore. Truss announced plans last month to cut taxes by the equivalent of roughly $50 billion without detailing how it would be paid for, spooking investors. The plan sent the price of gilts, which are British government bonds, tumbling, as the pound plunged to a record low against the dollar.

Former President Barack Obama admitted Friday that it had been a “mistake” not to support Iranian democracy protesters in 2009, when they rose up against their tyrannical regime in what was called the “Green Revolution.” At the time, Obama chose to remain quiet about the protests, as he hoped to preserve the regime, and the administration of radical, Holocaust-denying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the hope of pursuing negotiations toward a deal on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.