Free Republic

Mike Pence says he will not endorse Donald Trump in 2024

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, called on Russians to join an election day protest at noon on March 17 and to vote against President Vladimir Putin or spoil their ballots. In a YouTube video, Navalnaya said she had drawn hope from the huge crowds that turned out last week for the funeral of her husband, who died in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16, and who since then have submerged his grave in a sea of flowers. She urged people to join the March 17 action that Navalny, Russia's best known opposition figure, had called for...

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he was surprised by a lack of sharp questions from U.S. television host Tucker Carlson in an interview that made headlines around the world last week. Putin told a Russian TV interviewer, Pavel Zarubin, that he had wanted Carlson to behave more aggressively, which would have given him the right to reply just as pointedly. "To be honest, I thought that he would behave aggressively and ask so-called sharp questions. I was not just prepared for this, I wanted it, because it would give me the opportunity to respond in the same way," Putin said...

Hosts on Russian state-run television recently hyped up the news that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was spotted visiting Moscow. -snip- On Sunday, Julia Davis, founder of the Russian Media Monitor watchdog group, shared a clip to X from a recent broadcast of Solovyov Live in which the hosts discussed Carlson's appearance in Russia and mocked Americans in response to it. "Americans are in shock. What is happening?" one of the hosts asked. "How did one of the best-known American journalists, Tucker Carlson, suddenly end up in Russia somehow and even went to the Bolshoi Theater to see the...

The reported appearance of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in the Russian capital has sparked intense speculation over the purpose of the conservative media personality's visit to Moscow. Carlson arrived in Moscow on February 1, and was spotted attending the Bolshoi Theater in the capital, according to Russian outlet Mash. Questions quickly swirled over why the TV anchor would have traveled to Moscow, and whether he intended to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit.

A Wall Street analyst has been fired after he was filmed telling a Jewish American to “go back to your country” while he also covered hostage posters with signs accusing Israel of being an “apartheid state” committing “genocide.” Freepoint Commodities confirmed in a statement that the employee seen in a now-viral video “is no longer associated with” the company that “does not tolerate discrimination and hate speech directed against any group.” He was identified by journalist Andy Ngo as Kurush Mistry, which sources later also confirmed to the Financial Times. The woman with him — who called Israelis “rapists” —...

As expressed in a comment and somewhat revised here, the premise behind the typical justificatory arguments for abortion (“respecting individual autonomy and the right to make decisions about one's own body,” “negative consequences on public health,” “the freedom to choose what's best for them”) is that the unborn at any time of abortion is not a human person, even though it will be rather quickly very manifest to be one indeed. Even if someone you invited into your car or house secretly brings a child with them without your consent, then you simply do not have the right to exterminate...

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) warned Friday of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel's order for people in the north of the enclave to evacuate south. "The call from the Israelis Forces to move more than 1 million civilians living in northern Gaza... is horrendous. This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into abyss," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement. UNWRA described the scale and speed on the humanitarian crisis as "bone-chilling." "Gaza is fast becoming a hell...

One of former President Trump’s assistants reportedly told federal investigators Trump wrote to-do lists on the backs of classified documents, according to an ABC News report. ABC News, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported former Trump aide Molly Michael told investigators the former president wrote requests or tasks for her on the back of notecards, which she later realized were White House documents “with visible classification markings.” The documents were reportedly used to brief the former president about international matters and phone calls with foreign leaders, ABC News reported. Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News the notecards...

The tripwire was clearly outlined before {GO DEEP} as all the indicators were in place.If you have followed the background, the purpose of Ron DeSantis meeting privately today with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, is very clear. Georgia is the fulcrum state of the 2024 Sea Island “Roadmap for Ron.”(Via Politico) Ron DeSantis met privately with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday, the latest in his effort to fortify relationships with three Republican governors alienated by Donald Trump.The meeting, at a hotel in Buckhead, Georgia, preceded DeSantis’ appearance at a gathering of presidential candidates hosted by conservative talk radio host Erick...

A voice of sanity...

The state Department of Transportation responded this week after a Confederate flag was seen flying over a paving project on Route 2 in Fitchburg. The flag was captured on camera in a video shared with 7NEWS. In addition to the flag, the video showed crews working in the area. In a statement, MassDOT said a subcontractor from Bloomfield, Conn. displayed the flag while doing work. “MassDOT prohibits the display of the confederate flag and similar paraphernalia and has informed the contractor that they will not be allowed to perform further work until steps are taken to remove the flag,” MassDOT...

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has come under fire after making changes to his personal Twitter account in preparation for a reported presidential bid announcement this week. Previously known on Twitter as @GovRonDeSantisFL, the governor’s new handle now reads @GovRonDeSantis. The decision to drop the “FL” from his handle has been interpreted by some as an act of distancing himself from the state that propelled him into the national spotlight. Critics argue that by removing the “FL,” DeSantis is effectively signaling that he views Florida as a means to an end and has little intention of continuing his service as governor...

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis broke his silence on Friday about the firing of Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. Carlson, who hosted the conservative news network's 8 p.m. ET program starting in 2016, was abruptly let go from the company on April 24 for reasons that have still not been officially explained. Subsequent reporting has suggested that a racist text message turned up during the discovery phase of Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit led officials at the company to push for his ouster, or that it was related to a lawsuit filed by a former staff member alleging that Carlson fostered...

Ron DeSantis grappled with how not to "piss off" then-President Donald Trump's voters during 2018 debate preparation sessions in his first campaign for Florida governor, according to videos obtained by ABC News. In the videos, the then-congressman can be seen talking through how to answer a mock question on whether there are any issues on which he disagrees with Trump. The question was posed to him by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who participated in the mock sessions. "Obviously there is, I mean, I voted contrary to him in the Congress," DeSantis said in the video. He added, "I have to...

And the racist pro-crime Left wants more. Over the last decade, BLM, and assorted leftist and libertarian groups dismantled our criminal justice system. Police forces were defunded, pro-crime prosecutors refused to lock up criminals, federal and state prison systems released tens of thousands of them, and a wave of legislative decriminalization legalized everything from shoplifting, to drug dealing and mugging. The pro-crime policymaking that eliminated public safety and cost over 3,000 lives in 2020 alone was done under the guise of fighting racism. Statistics which showed that black people were more likely to be arrested, imprisoned or shot during criminal...

Summary - nevertrumper ken cuccinelli, who worked his way into the Trump admin, has announced a pac calling for support of desantis and his run for president. The conservative treehouse and John Fredericks discuss cuccinelli's history of dirty tactics and his nevertrumping past, as Fredericks warn Trump supports to not trust the nevertrumpers and be prepared for a fight. Anonymous leaks detail potential presidential run announcement ahead of the continued unofficial desantis campaign tour.

Ukraine won't surrender Bakhmut, says Zelensky as Russia advances near…. That promise lasted one month. Limited shelf life. Russia’s long grind to take the strategically vital city of Bakhmut is nearing it ends, with the clean up and capture of abandoned Ukrainian units still inside the city as the priority tasks for the Russian military. Bakhmut is not as economically important as Mariupol, which fell to the Russians last May, but it is geographically significant. That is why Ukraine fought so desperately to hang on to it and expended the lives of tens of thousands of its soldiers in a...

Former President Donald Trump is the frontrunner in a potential GOP primary, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is the likely runner-up, according to a recent poll.The Friday poll, conducted by Harvard, The Harris Poll, and Center for American Political Studies, shows Trump leading the field of potential and announced GOP candidates at 46%, with DeSantis second at 23%. Next in line is former Vice President Mike Pence with 7% and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the only other candidate officially in the race, at 6%.The poll also asked Republican voters who they’d choose if Trump wasn’t in the race....

Support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis becoming the Republican Party’s presidential nominee is waning, according to a new poll.Approval for Mr. DeSantis slipped by 5 percentage points compared to former President Donald Trump in the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll released exclusively to The Hill on Friday. Mr. DeSantis now trails Mr. Trump — 23% to 46%. He previously trailed Mr. Trump by 20 percentage points in January’s poll.Mr. Trump also comes out on top in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup with Mr. DeSantis, 56% to 44%, according to the latest poll.Another sign that Mr. DeSantis is losing ground with voters emerges...