Free Republic

President Donald Trump baselessly claimed on Tuesday that the July 2024 assassination attempt against him was a plot by Democrats, including then-President Joe Biden and FBI Director Chris Wray, to push him out of the election. The president posted on Truth Social that Biden's FBI "didn't do what they should have with respect to the Lunatic who shot me in Butler, PA," referring to gunman Thomas Crooks, who was 20 years old when he shot at Trump during a campaign rally, grazing his ear, killing a bystander and injuring two others before the Secret Service fatally shot him. Politics: Trump...

The scenario long-dreaded by Republican strategists looks increasingly plausible following Tuesday’s primary election in Texas: Democrat James Talarico may face Republican Ken Paxton for the state’s U.S. Senate seat in November. Paxton is heading for a runoff against Sen. John Cornyn where he is likely to be at least a slight favorite, though the final results from the first round of voting could shift expectations. Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary, according to Associated Press projections. Republicans fear the matchup could, at the very least, cost the party tens of millions of dollars to protect Paxton, the...

A new Yahoo/YouGov poll finds Americans split over whether they approve (40%) or disapprove (38%) of the U.S. military operation that toppled Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. Nearly a quarter (22%) say they’re unsure how to feel.But the public is much more certain about what they want — or rather, don’t want — to happen next. With Maduro gone, President Trump has said that the United States is "going to run the country” of Venezuela from afar, insisting that "we’re in charge" now.“Only time will tell” how long U.S. control of Venezuela lasts, the president mused in a...

Kirk, like all victims of gun violence, was someone’s family member — a husband, a father, a son. He was a professed Christian and a provocateur who took his message to places that were often hostile; he welcomed a back-and-forth with those who disagreed with his views. He was a media savant who leveraged his views into the algorithms of young people, particularly men, who have been historically reluctant to engage in politics. Many people who couldn’t have picked Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens out of a police lineup knew Charlie Kirk. Turning Point USA, the political organization he co-founded...