Free Republic

I’ve seldom seen a better example of a rhetorical question—one to which the answer is so obvious no response is necessary—than this: No. No there isn’t, with perhaps one exception, thanks to a woman. One would have to go back to 1998 when Democrat Michael Dukakis, a man never accused of overt manliness, decided to strap on a helmet that made him look like a 2-year-old in an NFL helmet and mount an M1 Abrams tank for a brief spin for the cameras. That ludicrously incongruous image, which has never left the public consciousness, not only doomed his candidacy but...

On Monday August 25, 2025 The New York Times published a lengthy piece entitled,“How China Influences Elections in America’s Biggest City” with the subtitle: “The Chinese consulate in Manhattan has mobilized community groups to defeat candidates who don’t fall in line with the authoritarian state.”Though it’s ostensibly a story just on New York City, the reporting is not confined to matters there. Both a Democrat U.S. congresswoman on a sensitive committee and New York’s Democrat Governor get a looking-at. And while Governor Hochul may not be your governor or mine, she clearly has a seat of national influence, and at...

In New York City, social clubs backed by China undermined a congressional candidate who once challenged the regime on Chinese television. They helped unseat a state senator for attending a banquet with the president of Taiwan. And they condemned a City Council candidate on social media for supporting Hong Kong democracy. In the past few years, these organizations have quietly foiled the careers of politicians who opposed China’s authoritarian government while backing others who supported policies of the country’s ruling Communist Party. The groups, many of them tax-exempt nonprofits, have allowed America’s most formidable adversary to influence elections in the...

Looking past the man to his party of choice makes him even more frightening.With so much attention showered on the person of Zohran Mamdani following his shocking blowout victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, it has been easy to overlook the underlying ideology of the party to which he belongs. And we are not talking about the Democrats, but the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which Mamdani proudly joined in 2017. But, you might say, Mamdani does not actually believe — or still believe — the most nakedly communist tenets of the DSA’s party platform, right? And...

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday that the city’s police force has crime under control and doesn’t need the National Guard, law-enforcement sources said. The pair met for about 30 minutes behind closed doors at One Police Plaza in Manhattan, with the tête-à-tête occurring as President Trump has taken a keen interest in boosting public safety in the city — including by potentially deploying additional boots on the ground in the five boroughs. The president has already sent armed National Guard troops to crime-riddled Washington, DC. But the Big Apple’s top cop politely pointed...

The president in recent days is leaning even further into using the National Guard as a glorified police force, visiting the troops and allowing them to be armed. He’s suggested he’s eyeing Chicago and New York next for their next deployment. On Sunday, he needled Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for Baltimore’s notorious crime statistics, hinting he could send troops there as well. It's a sign that despite polling showing how unpopular Trump’s moves are in Washington, the president is playing to a national audience — and betting this is a battle he and the GOP can win. If his recent...

For a candidate who claims to stand against the influence of wealth and power, Zohran Mamdani sure knows how to rake in both. His campaign hauled in a staggering $1,024,184 between July 12 and August 18—more than double Mayor Eric Adams’ (D) $425,181 and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) $541,301, and far ahead of Republican Curtis Sliwa’s $406,392. At last count, Mamdani had over $4.3 million in the bank—more than any other New York City mayoral contender. But as with most political stories that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch: much of that money isn’t coming from...

It’s not just you. It really is impossible to keep track of all the political news. But one thing is pretty reliable: When Donald Trump has a bad week, he will use social media to make a presidential announcement.Last week was one of those bad weeks. President Vladimir Putin of Russia landed in America as if he had V.I.P. tickets to a private Taylor Swift meet-and-greet. He made no concessions in Russia’s war on Ukraine, and Trump belatedly realized that he had been played. Plus, that Jeffrey Epstein thing just won’t go away.So, true to form, the president took to...

Democratic mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and his comrades at the Democratic Socialists of America want to wipe out the enforcement of all misdemeanor offenses, The Post has learned. In its most recent platform, the group blasts policing and detention as “instruments of class war” designed to “guarantee the domination of the working class” — and demands an end what it calls “the criminalization of working-class survival.” “For all of the working class to achieve collective liberation we must constrain, diminish, and abolish the carceral forces of the state — from prisons and police themselves, to their manifestations in all forms...

Kansas City’s $50 million experiment with free bus fare is hitting the brakes — because the city can no longer afford it. Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s socialist proposals — including free buses in the five boroughs and Soviet-style, city-owned grocery stores — are now 0-2 when tried elsewhere, after Kansas City’s own venture with a government-run grocery abruptly closed earlier this month. The Midwest city used federal COVID-19 relief money in 2020 to become the first in the country to institute free buses. But local funding dried up, and riders and conductors slammed the buses as unreliable, filthy, rolling homeless...

At least we know he won’t be a strongman leader. Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani struggled to execute a single unassisted bench press rep while trying to impress a crowd at the annual Men’s Day open streets event in Brooklyn Saturday. Photos showed the 33-year-old Socialist, and Democratic Party nominee, was unable to lift a bar loaded with what was said to be 135-pounds off the rack without help — and his two reps required full assistance from a smiling, large-biceped Men’s Day celebrant, photos showed.After throwing in the towel, Mamdani stood up and gave all the credit to the spotter,...

33-year-old newlywed communist Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor in this fall’s election, struggled to bench press 135 pounds at a campaign stop in Brooklyn Saturday, needing help by a spotter, reported the New York Post. New York Post excerpt: Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani struggled to execute a single unassisted bench press rep while trying to impress a crowd at the annual Men’s Day open streets event in Brooklyn Saturday. Photos showed the 33-year-old Socialist, and Democratic Party nominee, was unable to lift a bar loaded with what was said to be 135-pounds off the...

Good for Mayor Eric Adams for suing the Campaign Finance Board over its outrageous, undemocratic bid to rig the mayoral race against him. Even if he doesn’t receive timely justice, he’s at least helping expose a system that needs drastic reform or even complete elimination. Hizzoner wants the board to fork over $5 million in matching funds he argues it has unfairly denied him. The board’s “conduct is unconstitutional and the height of arbitrary and capricious governmental action,” Adams’ filing states. “The agency must be held to account for its pernicious conduct.” Damn straight. The board first began withholding funds...

A long-running battle between a pair of famed Italian eateries over the “Patsy’s” name has exploded once again, with a Harlem pizzeria with the name receiving a $300,000 penalty for repeatedly violating a two-decade old court order barring them from trademarking the disputed moniker. Frank Brija, who owns uptown’s Patsy’s Pizzaria, was found in contempt of the court order for the third time since it was issued in 2001 — a move that will cost Brija $300,000, plus attorney’s fees, according to a decision released last week. Patsy’s Pizzeria owner Frank Brija was found in contempt of an injunction for...

An infantilizing charlatan and quack—who owes a huge apology for attempting to pass himself off as African American. That’s what black leaders are calling Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani who, despite his airs of being “the great, brown hope,” continues to flounder with demographics his entire campaign is supposed to help. Insiders say black voters are not warming up to the Democratic socialist since roundly rejecting him in June’s primary. “He owes us an apology, for the community. How dare he?” Chantel Wright, a 59-year-old Harlem resident, bishop, and educator, told the Post in an impassioned interview. Wright was referring...

We may have the funniest scandal of the year. Winnie Greco, a “close advisor” to Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams, was “suspended from his re-election campaign on Wednesday after giving a journalist cash tucked inside a potato chip bag,” according to The New York Times. It gets better. The cash was allegedly tucked inside a red Chinese envelope and then hidden in an “opened bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips,” reports The City. The reporter, Katie Honan, thought “it was an offer of a light snack,” and “told Greco more than once she could...

A New York state appeals court voided a more than $500 million civil fraud penalty imposed on President Donald Trump. The appeals court said “injunctive relief” ordered by the trial judge in the case was “well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture” at the Trump Organization. But the order that “directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the appeals court said.

President Donald Trump is responding to the decision by a New York appellate court Thursday to throw out the bogus $515 million fraud case brought against him by Attorney General Letitia James. Here is Trump's full reaction, which he posted on Truth Social: TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case! I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State. Others were afraid to do business there. The amount, including Interest and Penalties, was over $550...

An appellate court has thrown out the $500 million civil fraud penalty against former President Donald Trump in the high-profile case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.......The panel upheld findings that Trump and his company were liable, affirming that James acted within her authority and that injunctive relief to curb Trump Organization practices was appropriate.The ruling leaves liability intact but eliminates the massive financial penalty.

Democrats are tortured by what they should stand for now and heading into the 2028 elections. But a number of current trends suggest a likely answer: their own version of a populist, anti-establishment, MAGA-like makeover.Why it matters: The debate is usually framed as liberal vs. centrist, Rahm versus AOC. But big, fast changes in AI, media habits and general public angst point to a more sweeping shift in ideas and attitude.Four megatrends that are already shaping Democrats' efforts to remake their image and rewrite their agenda:Media: MSM is fading in its mesmerizing hold over liberals. At the same time, the...