Free Republic

CHICAGO — The debate over the future of gas stoves in Chicago has been heating up in recent months. Under one proposal, called the “Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance,” the City Council could ultimately ban gas stoves in all new construction projects. Chicago is not the only government agency looking at ways to limit gas emissions. Last year, New York became the first state to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in new buildings. Prominent Chicago Chef Rick Bayless made the transition in his restaurants years ago. “We wanted to make everything as environmentally friendly as possible,” said Bayless,...

President Joe Biden joked at the Gridiron Dinner this past weekend about former President Donald Trump’s struggle to pay nearly half a billion dollars in fines resulting from a controversial civil fraud judgement against him in New York. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) — who ran for office specifically promising to use the law to pursue Trump for unspecified sins — declared that “everyone must play by the same rules,” though the Trump case was unprecedented. Trump was sued for allegedly inflating his net worth under a New York law that does not require the state to show...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday denounced recent remarks by former President Trump about Jewish Americans who vote Democratic as “reprehensible and dangerous,” and argued they are a clear example of “unadulterated antisemitism.” Trump said in an interview that aired Monday that Democrats “hate Israel” and that Jewish voters who support Democrats hate their religion. The comments came in response to Schumer’s call late last week for new elections in Israel and heightened criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history, responded in kind on Tuesday.

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) will not vote for his own party’s nominee for president, he said Tuesday. The establishment politician’s statement that he will not vote for Donald Trump comes days after the former president locked up the party’s nomination. Young had indicated earlier he would not endorse Trump, but Tuesday is the first time he admitted publicly he will not even vote for his party’s standard bearer. “At some point, principled conservatives need to incentivize our party, the Republican Party, to nominate somebody that principled conservatives can actually believe in,” Young told a local Indiana outlet. “Stated differently, I’m...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the “only person who can say they were better off four years ago” is former President Trump, in the wake of legal woes he has faced. “Multiple indictments and half a billion dollars in civil liability later, pretty much the only person who can say they were better off four years ago is Donald Trump,” Clinton said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The comments from Trump’s rival for the 2016 presidential race follow the former president’s lawyers indicating in a Monday court filing that Trump...

Elon Musk’s Tesla has suffered another safety setback after a tenacious lithium-ion fire battery suddenly hit a Tesla EV driving on an Ohio highway which led to a three-hour closure of the northbound lanes of Route 255 in Bethalto, Illinois on Sunday. Thankfully, the driver and their passengers safely escaped the burning vehicle before it was too late. The Alton Telegraph reports that a Tesla electric vehicle caught fire while traveling northbound on Route 255 in Bethalto, Illinois on Sunday, prompting a major response from multiple fire departments and the Madison County Hazmat Team. The incident, which began around noon,...

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen said former President Trump is “really angry” that he can’t make bond in his New York civil fraud case. “Yeah, he’s really angry right now,” Cohen said in a Monday night interview on CNN’s “The Source” with anchor Kaitlan Collins. “That’s what happens, when Donald gets frustrated, he gets angry, when there’s a situation that is completely out of his control.” Trump’s lawyers indicated in a Monday court filing that the former president cannot secure the $464 million bond due in the case. His attorneys said they have spent “countless hours negotiating with one of...

Former President Donald Trump is “smarter than” Democrats and the prospect of his return to the White House in 2024 is a “legitimate fear,” left-wing documentary director Michael Moore has warned. The 69-year-old Oscar winner made clear his fears during the latest episode of his Rumble podcast on Sunday. “We don’t want to say this out loud, but I’m going to say it, and the reason we need to be concerned is that Trump is smarter than us,” Moore said.

A strong majority of U.S. adults believe religion is losing its influence in public life, a new Pew Research Center survey found. Overall, 80 percent of U.S. adults say religion’s role in American life is shrinking, “a percentage that’s as high as it’s ever been,” according to the poll report. Nearly half (49 percent) say the decline of religious influence in public life is a “bad thing.” Eight percent say religious influence is “growing and this is good.” Only 6 percent say religious influence is “growing and this is bad,” and 13 percent say religious influence is “shrinking and this...

The Biden campaign released an ad Monday that features out-of-context remarks by former President Donald Trump about the “bloodbath” that will occur in the American auto industry if President Joe Biden wins reelection. The ad is the Biden campaign’s latest effort to seize America First policy and spin it into an anti-Trump narrative. “The Trump campaign can try to spin all they want, but the context is clear: their candidate has spent every moment since his first campaign encouraging and excusing political violence,” Biden campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika told Politico. “Repeatedly. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature of Donald...

Democratic strategist James Carville said Monday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that President Joe Biden needed to intensify his attacks on former President Donald Trump immediately. Carville said, “Trump’s on his hind feet legally. He’s clearly going mad and I would attack right now. I’d spend that money, I’d jump all over him because my feeling is when your opponent is drowning, the first thing you do is throw him or her an anvil and that’s what he needs right now. He’s drowning, give him an anvil.” Political commentator Paul Begala said, “James is exactly right. President Biden and his campaign...

Denver police released bodycam footage last week of the moment officers rammed down the back door of a 7-Eleven and fired 36 rounds at a suspect who was holding a store clerk hostage with a nail-pulling tool, killing him. The fatal police shooting came after Christopher Cauch, 43, had barricaded himself and two others in the back of the convenience store on the evening of March 1, according to the Denver Post. Four officers responding to reports of a stabbing and robbery at the convenience store found that a store clerk was “under duress” in a back room, Chief Ron...

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination this year, says he won’t back former President Trump in 2024, but also won’t vote for President Biden. “I get asked a lot if I believe Trump is a threat to our democracy,” he writes in a USA Today op-ed. “I am not good at predicting the future, but we can learn from history and we should take heed when politicians tell us what they are going to do.” Hutchinson says in the piece that he voted for Trump twice, but that insight gleaned from former Rep. Liz...

(WJET/WFXP) — Crafts retailer JOANN filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early Monday morning. The company, with over 800 stores nationwide, is best known for selling craft supplies, home decor and sewing supplies. The filing allows JOANN to continue to operate while it repays its debts, meaning no stores or online shopping is expected to be affected by the filing, according to a press release. Additionally, any obligations to employees, vendors, landlords and other trade creditors will be paid or otherwise satisfied in full. According to court documents, JOANN cited increasing interest rates and decreasing sales after a spike in sales...

President Biden’s newest shoes have opened up renewed debate about his health and physical condition, with some speculating they were designed to prevent the president from falling. “Biden’s handlers are forcing him to wear a new pair of ‘lifestyle sneakers’ because he trips so much,” reads a tweet from RNC Research on Saturday, referring to Biden’s new shoes. Observers have likened the shoes to “boat anchors” and “piers,” but the “Inside Edition” report attached to the tweet revealed that the president’s new shoes are actually “lifestyle sneakers” that are made by the shoe brand Hoka. The “Inside Edition” report notes...

Two people were shot dead and another five left wounded early Sunday morning in Democrat-controlled Washington, DC, with the perpetrator still on the loose and unidentified, according to police. The suspect fled on foot after the shooting took place at 3 a.m. at the intersection of 7th Street NW and P Street NW, about four blocks away from Mt. Vernon Square near the Kennedy Recreation Center, police said. “We’re asking anyone who may have any information related to this incident or may have witnessed it, to contact the Metropolitan Police Department,” Executive Assistant Chief Jeffrey Carrol said during a news...

After President Joe Biden's electoral romp on Super Tuesday and his subsequent State of the Union address, his campaign quickly eased into its general election posture, with the commander in chief visiting key battleground states, including Georgia and Michigan. But it was an ad entitled "For You" released earlier this month that took on one of the 81-year-old Biden's biggest challenges ahead of the election: addressing voter concerns over his age. As he spoke in front of a camera, Biden had a distinctly sunny disposition. He quickly gets to the heart of the matter.

Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Inside” that former President Donald Trump’s bloodbath comment was an “endorsement of political violence.” Saturday, at a rally in Dayton, OH, Trump said, “If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now, and you think you’re going to get that, you’re going to not hire Americans, and you’re going to sell the cars as now we’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car...

The homeless man who fatally shot three relatives and carjacked two vehicles in a crime spree in New Jersey and Pennsylvania Saturday has been hit with a slew of charges in both states. Andre Gordon Jr., 26, was charged with murder and other crimes in the Keystone State and he was charged with carjacking and weapons offenses in the Garden State after his violent rampage Saturday. Gordon shot and killed his stepmother Karen Gordon, 52, sister Kera Gordon, 13, and the mother of his two kids, Taylor Daniel, officials said.

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would vote for a Republican when repeatedly asked if he would endorse former President Donald Trump. Anchor Kristen Welker said, “Let me ask you about former Vice President Mike Pence. As you know he made a lot of headlines at the end of this week when he said he would not endorse his former boss Donald Trump. It comes as a number of trump critics from Mitch McConnell to Chris Sununu and Brian Kemp said they are going to endorse Donald Trump. I know you’ve gotten this...