Free Republic

Is this the right time for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to run for president ? Potential candidates calculate odds, take polls, and count dollars to determine whether they should run. But it’s often not an easy decision; timing is the biggest conundrum in politics. DeSantis once seemed to have a glide path to the Republican Party's presidential nomination. His strong popularity among Republicans nationwide, together with his big reelection win and former President Donald Trump’s flubbing the midterm elections, put him in the driver’s seat. But now that the nomination is hitched to the wild uncertainties of indictments, some DeSantis...

Former Bush 43 adviser Karl Rove said Monday on FNC’s “The Story” that former President Donald Trump needs to “move on” from claiming he won the 2020 presidential election. Sunday at CPAC in Maryland, Trump said, “We are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove, and Jeb Bush.” Anchor Martha MacCallum said, “President Trump went after you at one point, went after other Republicans and said, you know, that’s not the direction we’re going anymore. We’re moving hard on America first, and this is the last battle. Everyone knows it. The country could be lost forever.”

Former President Trump plans to attack Bush-era Republicans in his remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday and urge those in attendance to finish the job of transforming the GOP by backing him for the White House in 2024. Trump is expected to deliver CPAC’s keynote address at roughly 5:30 p.m. in remarks that are expected to last roughly 90 minutes. Trump has been a staple of the annual gathering for years, delivering marquee speeches during and after his presidency. The event, this year in National Harbor, Maryland, is now dominated by his most ardent supporters and he is...

Failed Trump challenger Jeb Bush heaped praise upon Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and spoke kindly of the prospect of the governor throwing his hat into the presidential ring, calling for a “more forward leaning future” and affirming that he believes it is DeSantis’s opportunity to run for higher office.“There are people in public life that are kind of check the box politicians, and then there are others they want to serve, and Governor DeSantis is one of those,” the former Florida governor said during a Fox Nation special on DeSantis, who has yet to jump into the 2024 presidential...

The red wave never came. What happened in Tuesday’s midterms was closer to a trickle. As of this writing, we still don’t know definitively which party controls the House. It’s likely to be the Republicans but not by much. Before Tuesday, the House had 222 Democrats (that includes two vacant Democratic seats) and 213 Republicans (including one vacant Republican seat). As of 4 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday, the Associated Press had called 206 seats for the GOP and Republicans were poised to win 18 other contests. That would leave the GOP with 224 seats to the Democrats’ 211. It will...

Former President Donald Trump speaks loudly about the Republican candidates he's backing for the midterm elections. His money isn't always where his mouth is, however, at least not to the same level as Senate Minority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell. With Election Day just four days away, Republicans are fighting to flip the Senate in their favor. Many Trump-endorsed candidates are neck-and-neck in tight races against their Democratic opponents. Every dollar counts this close to the election and despite last minute fundraising pushes on both sides, many races remain tight. In the meantime, Trump is directing his attention toward McConnell, a...

Incumbent Republican Ken Paxton has established a large lead over Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush in the upcoming runoff for attorney general, according to a new poll released this week. According to a new poll from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, Paxton is leading the race for attorney general with 65 percent of support among “likely” voters, against Bush’s 23 percent. When the survey respondents are filtered to just be “almost certain voters,” Paxton’s lead grows to 71 percent versus 20 percent for Bush.

The George W. Bush Institute, the Chamber of Commerce, and the billionaire Koch brothers’ network of donor class organizations are banding together with other mass migration groups to demand President Joe Biden expand overall immigration to the United States. The groups, along with others, have teamed up to create the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus that will lobby Biden and members of Congress to pass amnesty for illegal aliens, increase security at the southern border, and increase the ability of businesses to import foreign workers. AD “Employers are also struggling to find workers to fill jobs in many industries,”...

Former Vice President Mike Pence called out his former boss by name on Friday, saying that "President (Donald) Trump is wrong" in claiming that Pence had the right to overturn the 2020 election on January 6, 2021. Speaking at the Federalist Society Florida Chapters conference near Orlando, Pence delivered his strongest response yet to Trump's ongoing efforts to relitigate the 2020 presidential election, calling it "un-American" to suggest one person could have decided the outcome. Pence warned against conservatives who continue to insist the vice president can alter an election, and said it could be a problematic position for Republicans...

September 11, 2021 Jeb Bush RetweetedToday is a day where a certain former President not being on social media is truly a service to society.— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) September 11, 2021

https://www.bushcenter.org/publications/articles/2021/08/afghanistan-relief-and-resources.html

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of officials who worked for former Republican President George W. Bush are endorsing Democratic White House hopeful Joe Biden — the latest Republican-led group coming out to oppose the re-election of Donald Trump. The officials, who include Cabinet secretaries and other senior people in the Bush administration, have formed a political action committee — "43 Alumni for Biden" — to support the former vice president in his Nov. 3 race, three organizers of the group told Reuters, which first reported the story. The group on Wednesday put out a statement announcing its formation.Bush was the country's 43rd...

Former President George W Bush is speaking out on the government's collapse in Afghanistan, expressing his sadness over the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush said in a joint statement issued late Monday that their hearts are heavy for Afghan civilians, Americans and NATO allies. "Laura and I have been watching the tragic events unfolding in Afghanistan with deep sadness," the former president said. "Our hearts are heavy for both the Afghan people who have suffered so much and for the Americans and NATO allies who have sacrificed so much." He said that...

Former President George W. Bush on Monday urged President Joe Biden to “cut the red tape” and allow for the swift evacuation of Afghan refugees following the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Responding to the fall of Afghanistan’s US-backed government, Bush said the Afghans “at the greatest risk are the same ones who have been on the forefront of progress inside their nation.” The costly US-led war in Afghanistan began just shy of 20 years ago after the 9/11 attack while Bush was president. Bush, in his Monday statement, noted Biden has promised to evacuate the Afghans who assisted Americans...

The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning on Friday: believers in the false conspiracy theory that Trump will be reinstated have increased their calls for violence if the former president isn’t back in the White House soon. “Some conspiracy theories associated with reinstating former President Trump have included calls for violence if desired outcomes are not realized,” the DHS bulletin, obtained by ABC News, said. The bulletin went on to say that the recent increase in “public visibility” of liars like the My Pillow guy, Mike Lindell, is the reason for the uptick in violent online chatter. Lindell continues...

Former President Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Land Commissioner George P. Bush in the state's Republican attorney general primary on Monday. Trump blasted out a statement calling Paxton a "true Texan who will keep Texas safe" and praised the attorney general for his stances on crime, guns, border security, and "election integrity." "Attorney General Ken Paxton has been bravely on the front line in the fight for Texas, and America, against the vicious and very dangerous Radical Left Democrats, and the foolish and unsuspecting RINOs that are destroying our Country," Trump said. "It is going to take...

A former chief strategist for President George W. Bush believes the riot at the Capitol building on Jan. 6 was worse than the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Matthew Dowd -- interviewed by MSNBC's Joy Reid on Tuesday, which marked six months since the event -- charged the a lack of accountability for those who fomented the Capitol riot has given permission to Republicans to perpetuate the "big lie" that President Trump won the 2020 election. Advertisement - story continues below "To me, although there was less loss of life on January 6, January 6 was worse...

Texas won’t turn blue anytime soon with next-gen conservatives like @HoustonYR leading the charge. Enjoyed discussing my conservative vision for the TX AG’s Office with this incredible group tonight. We must secure our border, back the blue, & push back against federal overreach. pic.twitter.com/tO2H8z4hXl— George P. Bush (@georgepbush) June 15, 2021

Former President George W. Bush on Friday made a call for what he described as a "gradual" path to legal residency and eventually citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants -- while at the same time claiming that "amnesty" would be "fundamentally unfair." [cut] "The help and respect historically accorded to new arrivals is one reason so many people still aspire and wait to become Americans. So how is it that in a country more generous to new arrivals than any other, immigration policy is the source of so much rancor and ill will?" he asks. Bush lists a number of...

Former President George W. Bush said in a new interview he’s “still disturbed” by the U.S. Capitol riot. “I can’t remember what I was doing, but … I was sick to my stomach … to see our nation’s Capitol being stormed by hostile forces,” Mr. Bush told Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith. “And it really disturbed me to the point where I did put out a statement, and I’m still disturbed when I think about it. “It undermines rule of law and the ability to express yourself in peaceful ways in the public square,” he said. “This was an expression...