Free Republic

For someone who has so strongly objected in recent weeks to the idea that he’s an authoritarian or a threat to democracy, Donald Trump has a funny way of showing it. At a rally Monday in Pennsylvania, the former president said for at least the fourth time that criticizing judges and justices either is or should be illegal. And for what may be the first time, he directly said people who do so should go to jail. This was not only a stunning comment about restricting free speech, but it suggests a standard that most likely would have landed Trump...

It was the spring of 2018 and President Donald J. Trump, faced with an accelerating inquiry into his campaign’s ties to Russia, was furious that the Justice Department was reluctant to strike back at those he saw as his enemies.In an Oval Office meeting, Mr. Trump told startled aides that if Attorney General Jeff Sessions would not order the department to go after Hillary Clinton and James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, Mr. Trump would prosecute them himself.Recognizing the extraordinary dangers of a president seeking not just to weaponize the criminal justice system for political ends but trying as...

Last week, we gathered with other scholars at Ground Zero for a summit on terrorism and political violence. The mood was somber, not only because of reflections on 9/11 but also because of pained predictions of violence to come. It would have surprised nobody in attendance had they been told another assassination attempt against the former president would occur days later. This was, of course, not merely the second assassination attempt against Donald Trump. There have been many more plots over the past several years — aimed at politicians of all stripes — that never reached the point of gunfire...

Donald Trump can be seen as a Russian asset, though not in the traditional sense of an active agent or a recruited resource, an ex-FBI deputy director who worked under the former US president said. Asked on a podcast if he thought it possible Trump was a Russian asset, Andrew McCabe, who Trump fired as FBI deputy director in 2018, said: “I do, I do.” He added: “I don’t know that I would characterize it as [an] active, recruited, knowing asset in the way that people in the intelligence community think of that term. But I do think that Donald...

Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) claimed Thursday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that Vice President Kamala Harris has a broad base of support because “progressives love her, conservatives respect her.” Host Nicolle Wallace said, “We compare her to President Obama, whose campaign is similar in terms of the enthusiasm, but ideologically, she’s already rallied a much wider coalition. Her enthusiast supporters, include Bernie Sanders and Dick Cheney. I wonder if you can speak to the broadness, the broad base of support.”

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Monday on CNN’s “OutFront” that former President Donald Trump is willing to prosecute and jail Americans for disagreeing with him. Host Erin Burnett said, “He is though laying senator the groundwork to claim election fraud if he loses in November, I just want to make sure people know that because if you weren’t listening all weekend, you might have missed that. What he said. He said that the only thing that stands between him and victory in this election is widespread fraud and cheating. Here’s what he said.” At a campaign rally on Saturday, Trump...

In her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned foreign policy and national security in brief, broad, general themes: support for Israel and for Palestinian self-determination, and work toward a ceasefire of the ongoing conflict in Gaza; support for Ukraine in its war against Russia; support for border security but welcoming immigrants; ensuring America has the “strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world”; support for NATO; and waging tech competition with China. Eventually, someone will need to put some flesh on the bones collected in her speech.

One of the hallmarks of narcissism is that when things go wrong, it’s always someone else’s fault. Being a narcissist means never having to say you’re sorry. Nothing more perfectly illustrates this truism than an essay from yesterday’s Los Angeles Times blaming Republicans for California’s myriad woes. While the author is correct that, when Republicans had the chance, they didn’t make smart decisions, the reality is that it’s the Democrats who have led California to the desperate place it’s in now. Steve Lopez’s essay doesn’t make the mistake of blaming Republicans for all the state’s problems. He concedes that Democrats...

Kamala Harris. Donald Trump. Gish Gallop. All three are expected at Tuesday’s presidential debate, even if most of America is unfamiliar with one name in that lineup. GG, as I’ve now come to call it, is a shell game/debate tactic that takes its name from Duane Gish, a prominent figure in the creationist movement who deployed dubious arguments, selective factoids, and rapid-fire lies to overwhelm his opponents in public discussions about the theory of evolution. The disinformation technique, coined Gish Gallop in 1994 by the National Center for Science Education’s founding director Eugenie Scott, is essentially the art of burying...

There is a serious consequence to the fact that the nation’s socialist media are the marketing arm of the DNC. They are the gaslighting gatekeepers, the people who decide who is to be slapped with a “fact check” and suppressed and who is sanctioned as a “trusted source” and who is ignored. Thus, the media are free to propagate any propaganda for what is obviously their side, while mercilessly attacking pro-freedom media sources for the “crime” of telling the truth. This means that the left has become overly dependent on lies. Lying is the left’s only way to move “forward.”...

CNN host Jim Acosta asked Monday on “Newsroom” if former President Donald Trump should be at Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath to mark the third anniversary of the attack on Abbey Gate. Acosta said, “Former President Trump was at Arlington National Cemetery, where he marked the three-year anniversary of the bombing that killed 13 service members during the Afghanistan withdrawal. This is someone who, according to his own former chief of staff, said Americans who died in war are, ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ Trump denies that, although John Kelly confirms that Trump did say that. He more recently said...

Ukraine has seized more Russian territory in two weeks than Russia has seized in Ukraine all year. Reinforcements sent by Moscow failed to stop a Ukrainian surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region during its second week, creating a dilemma for the Kremlin – to further tap Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine by diverting more battalions to defend Russia, or to throw new conscripts into the war. Moscow has so far kept regular recruits into the armed forces on rotation at home, sending only contract soldiers to the bloody battlefields of Ukraine. But the Kursk offensive has changed that delicate political...

"Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a best seller trashing that community," Walz said. "Come on —that's not what Middle America is!"

MSNBC host Joy Reid said Tuesday on her network’s special “Decision 2024” coverage that former President Donald Trump “really does want to bring back fascism.” While discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Reid said, “The line that I wrote down from Coach Walz, I guess we’ll have to now call him, ‘Thank you for bringing back the joy.’ I think that’s part of what it is. I’ve gotten so many text messages from people who have been locked in this just cycle of terror and fear about what is to come, right? This fear of...

"The complete collapse of the entire railroad network in the country could happen in days," the channel said. "[Russian Railways] chiefs have been ordered to work to the point of exhaustion. Those who fail to cope are threatened with dismissal and 'execution.' This is the motivation." Russian Railways in 2023 reported that the number of trains suspended due to issues with its trains more than doubled to 42,600 amid a shortage of critical parts. This was due to "insufficient maintenance of the locomotive fleet," Kommersant reported in March. A Russian Railways spokesperson told Vedomosti in February that the issue "became...

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign on Friday blamed former President Donald Trump for the recent spike in the unemployment rate — under her and President Joe Biden’s administration. “Donald Trump failed Americans as president, costing our economy millions of jobs, and bringing us to the brink of recession,” James Singer, a Harris for President spokesperson, said in a statement, continuing: Now, he’s promising even more damage with a Project 2025 agenda that will decimate the middle class and increase taxes on working families, while ripping away health care, raising prescription drug costs, and cutting Social Security and Medicare — all...

Russia continues to pay a high cost in troops and equipment during its full-scale invasion, according to Kyiv, the recent figures of which outline losses of several dozen artillery systems—as well as two warplanes. Sunday's update by Ukraine's military noted how two aircraft had been among the equipment losses Russia had suffered over the previous day. This followed what Ukraine's General Staff said was a drone strike on the Morozovsk airfield, a Russian military base in the Rostov region near the Ukrainian border, which is home to Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-34 glide bombers. Kyiv said that the strikes hit warehouses...

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that former President Donald Trump is “juvenile” for criticizing Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA). Christie said, “You can’t imagine anyone who knows anything about politics would say, ‘Here’s an idea. Go and question whether or not Kamala Harris is really black or not.’ This is what happens, and this is how you can tell that this race is changing because what happens is when Donald Trump is ahead, and he feels like he’s comfortably ahead, he is willing to go with conventional, smart political advice. As soon as he thinks...

A massive drone attack walloped the military command center Russia is using to wage its war against Ukraine on Saturday. The overnight barrage destroyed ammunition plants and fuel depots in Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk, and Rostov regions. Among the successful targets was the Morozovsk airfield, where Russia keeps its fighter-bomber jets. The Russian airfield has played a crucial role in the Kremlin’s operations against Ukraine. Some of Russia’s anti-aircraft defense systems were also disabled on Saturday by Ukrainian-launched missiles. Russia also lost its B-237 Rostov-on-Don attack submarine, which was sunk Saturday outside Sevastopol in Ukrainian bomb strikes. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense...

Former President Trump's comments about Vice President Harris to the National Association of Black Journalists are being treated as radioactive by many Republicans. Why it matters: The tense interview is being met with GOP reactions ranging from qualified concern to outright shock, with some Republicans questioning Trump's ability to adapt to the new Democratic ticket. ...