Free Republic

Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, on Sunday called conservative commentator Tucker Carlson a “phony” for accusing the Trump administration of being “complicit in the act of war” in supporting Israel in its conflict with Iran. “I’ve known Tucker for 25 years, when he co-hosted an MSNBC show with Paul Begala. Tucker doesn’t have a consistent thought in his head, except self-promotion,” Mr. Fleischer posted Sunday on X with past videos of Mr. Carlson calling for Iran’s destruction. “Now he says that’s a warmonger. He’s a modern carnival barker.” -snip- On Sunday, Mr. Fleischer’s post on...

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie helped build Donald Trump up in the 2016 presidential primary and now he’s trying to tear him down before the 2024 election. He says it’s time for the Republican Party to move on from the boisterous former president and his stolen election claims. The blunt ex-prosecutor and governor has been test-driving his anti-Trump message as part of a public relations blitz around the release of his new book “Republican Rescue,” separating himself from the lion’s share of Republicans who still hail Mr. Trump as their unquestioned leader. But Mr. Christie is trying to pull...

Forget about Joseph R. Biden. The race for The White House in 2020 looks more and more like a contest between President Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama. The former president has returned to politics with a vengeance, inserting himself in ways previously unthinkable for those who have occupied the Oval Office and calling his successor a lawless incompetent. Along the way, Mr. Obama has upstaged his former sidekick and shifted the narrative of the 2020 presidential race from “Biden takes on Trump” to “Obama era versus the Trump years.”The 44th and 45th presidents — both historic in their own...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Democrats on Monday are kicking off the 2020 presidential nominating race at the first-in-the-nation caucuses, but many are dogged by fears that they will make the wrong pick. They universally agreed that they must oust President Trump in November but they tie themselves in knots about how to do it. Was it the “safe” choice in Joe Biden? A liberal hero in Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont or Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts? A youthful moderate such as former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg or Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota? The president, it seemed,...

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said Wednesday that Donald Trump’s call to ban most Muslims from the United States would weaken the nation and “doesn’t represent what we are.” “This is not what leads to a strong America,” Mr. Kasich said during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “We have never been strong by focusing on things designed to divided us.” -snip- Mr. Kasich also said that he is encouraged by how moderate Muslims have come out against the Islamic State terror group, or ISIS. “They have condemned aggressively the attacks all over the word,”...

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie plans to issue a statement Wednesday afternoon suspending his presidential campaign, The Washington Times has learned. The announcement follows a disappointing sixth-place finish in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, where Mr. Christie was hoping a strong showing would give him more breathing room in a race where the tough-talking governor competed with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to emerge as the most viable alternative to businessman Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he does not support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, raising additional questions about his evolution on the thorny issue, which has created headaches for both parties in Washington and the crowded presidential field. -snip- “What do we do with the 11 million people here? I think the answer is earned legal status,” he said. He made the comments a day after former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, accused Mr. Bush of flip-flopping on a pathway to citizenship. “He doesn’t believe in a path...

A pro-Rand Paul Super PAC is out with a new “Bailout Bush” digital advertisement Monday that criticizes former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for his position on the 2008 Wall Street bailout and accuses him of taking a bailout of his own when his father was president. The ad from America’s Liberty PAC comes on the heels of a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that found Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, has lost some ground since mid-June among the 2016 candidates and that Mr. Bush continues to run near the front of the pack with Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and...