Free Republic

Neocon Bill Kristol is urging his Never Trump allies to “Stand with trans,” describing President Donald Trump’s criticism of transgender ideology as “unjust and dangerous.” In a post on X, Kristol — who left the Republican Party over the embrace of President Donald Trump — shared a link to an article written by Marc Solomon, a partner at Civitas Public Affairs Group. Solomon writes about supporting transgender Americans and calls for people to “stand with trans Americans.” “Stand with trans Americans,” Kristol wrote in his post on X. “You don’t have to understand everything about the transgender experience to know...

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he’d consider pardoning embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump was blunt when asked by a reporter during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort if he’d come to Adams’ rescue with a presidential pardon. “I would,” he said. “I think that he was treated pretty unfairly.” The declaration came as Adams battles for his political life and potential freedom against a historic bribery and corruption federal indictment, which he denies. Many in Adams’ camp have seen another Trump presidency as a potential boon for his defense, either through a pardon or a sympathetic...

Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said gay people should be able to serve in the US military, in an apparent shift from his previous stance on the issue. When asked by reporters Thursday if gays should serve in the military, the former Fox News host and National Guard captain replied, “Yes,” Politico reported.Hegseth, who served tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay as an infantry officer, previously called policies allowing openly gay people to serve part of a “Marxist,” social justice agenda. In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth wrote that the “don’t...

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s support for Pete Hegseth, who he announced as his nominee for defense secretary shortly after Election Day, is wobbling after a crush of controversy over a rape allegation and a 2018 email from Mr. Hegseth’s mother accusing him of a pattern of abuse toward women. How Mr. Hegseth fares through a series of tests on Wednesday will be critical for his chances. He is set to continue his meetings with key senators, including Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran who has spoken about being sexually assaulted herself, and his mother is expected to sit for...

The mother of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, wrote him an email in 2018 saying he had routinely mistreated women for years and displayed a lack of character. “On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote, stating that she still loved him.She also wrote: “I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that...

Exit poll results showed 79% of Jewish voters backing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, compared with 21% who said they’d voted for the Republican, former President Donald Trump. More responses are still being added to the poll, which was conducted by a consortium of national media outlets, and the results could change. If the current split holds, it would represent yet another election cycle in which Republican claims that Jews would flock to their candidate because of Israel or antisemitism did not pan out.Edison Research, which conducts the poll for the consortium, surveyed voters in 10 states: Arizona,...

With Kamala Harris and Donald Trump set to face off in their only scheduled debate Tuesday night on ABC News, a new study highlights a significant bias in the news outlet's coverage leading up to the event. The Media Research Center’s analysis reveals ABC’s World News Tonight has aired overwhelmingly favorable coverage of Harris, while casting Trump in a predominantly negative light. Media Research Center analyzed 100 campaign stories on World News Tonight, showing 100% positive coverage for Harris and 93% negative coverage for Trump. *** ABC's David Muir, who will moderate Tuesday's debate, has overseen this one-sided coverage, raising...

Vice President Kamala Harris has a commanding lead nationally over former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll — as Republicans accuse Harris of avoiding media interviews for more than two weeks to avoid stumbling and potentially ending her “honeymoon” period as the Democratic candidate. Harris would take 50% of the vote to Trump’s 42% among likely voters if third-party candidates are options, Marquette Law School found in a poll conducted July 24-Aug. 1, shortly after President Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed Harris as his successor. Although the poll’s margin is an outlier...

A team of nine experts from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and other top universities has published paradigm-shifting research about the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines and why mandating vaccines for college students is unethical. The 50-page study, which was published on the Social Science Research Network at the end of August, analyzed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and industry-sponsored data on vaccine adverse events, and concluded that mandates for COVID-19 boosters for young people may cause 18 to 98 actual serious adverse events for each COVID-19 infection-related hospitalization theoretically prevented. The paper was co-authored by Dr. Stefan...