Free Republic

An old journalism axiom says that if everyone’s mad at you, you must be doing something right. Since NBC announced that it had hired Ronna McDaniel, the recently deposed chair of the Republican National Committee, as a paid contributor, everyone’s been mad. NBC executives are sure to be consoling themselves that they’re doing something right. It’s just hard to see what.

Former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has been hired as an on-air contributor at NBC News — and Chuck Todd had some harsh words for his bosses about it while live on Meet the Press. McDaniel appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday for a highly contentious interview with Kristen Welker. Moments after the interview concluded, Todd told Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.” Todd then went fully scorched earth on his network. “She is now a paid contributor by NBC news,” Todd said. “I have no idea whether any...

Donald Trump is seriously considering Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his running mate, according to a new report. NBC revealed on Thursday that it had spoken with "six people familiar with the presumptive Republican nominee's search for a 2024 running mate" and that Rubio is now a serious contender. The outlet reported: "The list is long, and it's extremely early in any kind of process," one Trump adviser said. "No one has been directly reached out to yet, and I do not expect that for some time."But Trump's apparent seriousness about Rubio, a 52-year-old, third-term senator, hints at the former...

Donald Trump will not pick a hardline pro-life candidate as his running mate over concerns that it would be electorally unwise, according to latest reports. NBC reported on Sunday that Trump has been asking about the positions of various potential vice-presidental picks on the issue, with particular concerns raised about Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. “The president understands it as a treacherous issue — one that you can actually trip up and fall on your face with,” said a source close to Trump. “He’s concerned it will have a drag on the ticket if they’re...

WASHINGTON — The White House is considering options for how to respond if Israel defies President Joe Biden’s repeated warnings against launching a military invasion of Rafah without a credible plan to protect Palestinian civilians, according to one former and three current U.S. officials. The discussions are taking place amid growing concern in the administration and frustration among congressional Democrats that the president’s pleas will simply be ignored. Israel this week inched closer to initiating an incursion into the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration set a March 24 deadline for Israel to provide written assurance, followed...

March 3 (UPI) — This weekend’s edition of Saturday Night Live opened with a comedy sketch mocking defenders of U.S. President Joe Biden’s age, energy, and acuity. The 5-minute segment showed CNN anchor Dana Bash (played by Heidi Gardner) interviewing California Gov. Gavin Newsom (Michael Longfellow) about polls that suggest many Americans don’t think that Democrat Biden, 81, is sharp enough to lead the country for another four years if he wins re-election in November against presumptive Republican candidate and former president, Donald Trump, 77. The sketch also includes on-camera remarks from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (played by...

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof stated that if you simply drop food aid into Gaza, it will be stolen by Hamas. Kristof stated, “So, one reason for the tragedy yesterday was that Israel apparently did not want to have food aid delivered through UNRWA, the U.N. organization that it has made a lot of allegations against and that may well have had twelve people participate in the October 7 attacks. It has also been reluctant to work with traditional aid agencies. And so, it apparently had contractors protected by Israeli tanks...

Political commentator Donny Deutsch said Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that President Joe Biden and Democrats should “scare the [****] out of people” with what they think will happen during a second presidency of Donald Trump. *** He continued, “Here’s the campaign the Democrats need to run. And I’ve been thinking about this a lot. There are four people that need to step forward. Kelly, Mattis, McMaster, and Milley. And there needs to be a general campaign where these generals, who have worked with him, need to turn to the American public and turn to the camera and say, ‘You don’t...

“Tom, I’ll start with you,” began Mika Brzezinski. “Why are rural white voters a threat to democracy at this point?” Fastball delivered, University of Maryland professor and co-author of just-released White Rural Rage: The Threat To American Democracy Tom Schaller took a swing. He and Mika first complained rural voters should be supporting Joe Biden, given his roots — you’d have to be pretty high to call Scranton “rural,” but whatever — then Schaller read off small town America’s charge sheet: rural whites, he said, are the most “racist,” “xenophobic,” “anti-immigrant and anti-gay,” “conspiracist,” “anti-democratic,” they “don’t believe in an...

MSNBC contributor Claire McCaskill said Thursday on “Morning Joe” that The New York Times was “ridiculous” for a story headlined “Fact-Checking Biden’s Recent Economic Talking Points,” which pointed out some of the president’s comments were misleading. McCaskill said, “If you travel around the world, which I’m fortunate enough to have a chance to do several times a year, you know what the rest of the world sees right now? They see America with the strongest economy. They see America with the most advanced technology. America’s universities still the brightest light on the horizon in terms of academics and research. They...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) panned Democrats who are upping their criticisms of President Biden ahead of the November election, saying they might as well don a “MAGA hat.” Fetterman noted during an interview an uptick in Democrats who have become more critical of Biden lately, and said it’s only helping former President Trump. “I don’t understand why,” Fetterman said, speaking on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. “I don’t know what’s in it for you to do that whether you’re just chasing clout or you want to make it in the news or anything like that. But if you’re not willing to...

Sen. Amy Klobuchar rejected the characterization from special counsel Robert Hur that President Biden is an "elderly man with a poor memory," saying she recently spent "over an hour" talking to him and he was fine. "I was with the president for over an hour and talked about so many things, domestic, international. He was focused. His recall was good," Klobuchar told NBC's "Meet The Press." KRISTEN WELKER: Well, let me ask you this. The report described President Biden as a quote, "Elderly man with a poor memory." Do you think the White House should allow the release of the...

A Wakhi woman and her yak in Avgarch Village, one of the oldest settlements of Hunza Valley that’s only accessible by foot. Photo: Samantha Shea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a little-known mountainous area called Hunza Valley, located far north of Pakistan, people seem to defy all medical odds. It is primarily home to the Burusho and Wakhi people, who for centuries have survived and thrived in remote villages — with minimal amenities and rudimentary health facilities. Studies have found that the average life expectancy here is around 100 years. My husband was born and raised here, and is from the Burusho indigenous...

Biden is losing to Trump by five points in the new NBC poll. Biden is getting smoked in almost every category, including having the necessary mental and physical health to be president, not, one assumes, an incidental matter when you are seeking to be president again. These numbers represent such a debacle, I understand why so many smart people assume that Democrats will switch out Biden — because he represents an insane bet for their party. I don’t think that’s going to happen, though. They’ve got to, as I mentioned the other day, hope the economy keeps improving and that...

Republican presidential candidate former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley attacked rival President Donald Trump in a surprise appearance during the ‘cold open’ of Saturday Night Live last night. Haley, who is trailing Trump by nearly 30 points in the latest poll for this month’s South Carolina primary and nearly 60 points in national polls, was well received by the liberal New York City television studio audience as she sparred with a Trump character during a candidate forum opening skit. The cold open was a mock CNN South Carolina town hall with Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, being baited with...

The live audience let out a whoop when Haley stood up on stage and began asking "Trump," played by James Austin Johnson, questions at a faux CNN town hall in South Carolina after other people in the audience had their turn...A beaming Haley also delivered the signature line, "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" at the end of the skit.

On Friday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) stated that he has offered to let President Joe Biden use the Connecticut Guard to help secure the border, but Biden won’t use them. Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked, “You may need housing for a different reason, immigration. You have people being bused up there — not in the same way that is being — that’s happening here — what do you think of the immigration problem in America, and do you think that blue states, which, for so long, thought this was a not in my backyard...

MSNBC’s Joy Reid was caught on a hot mic dropping the F-bomb, seemingly against President Joe Biden live on air Monday. The left-leaning host of “The ReidOut” made the gaffe when she was heard saying: “Starting another f—king war,” over footage of President Biden giving a speech about the border crisis. Her remark was presumably about the fallout from a drone strike by Iran-backed militants on a US base in Jordan that killed three American soldiers and resulted in at least 34 other injuries, insiders said. The president has not yet launched any retaliatory strikes but his administration is in...

When White House aides appear on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," they're often booked between 7 and 7:40 a.m. ET. That's so they'll reach one crucial and loyal viewer: President Biden. Why it matters: Biden's years-long love of MSNBC's staple morning show affects how the White House runs — and who Biden listens to. ,p> Zoom in: The president often calls co-host Joe Scarborough — a former Republican congressman who's now a harsh critic of Donald Trump — to get Scarborough's take on issues and sometimes vent about media coverage, according to people familiar with the relationship. ,p> During the day,...

Trump claimed that investors are betting he will win the 2024 presidential election...Trump cited no evidence to back up the claim..."THIS IS THE TRUMP STOCK MARKET," Trump claimed in an all-caps Truth social post, "BECAUSE MY POLLS AGAINST BIDEN ARE SO GOOD THAT INVESTORS ARE PROJECTING THAT I WILL WIN..."