Free Republic

Michael J. Cohen, one of the most prominent figures in New York’s gay nightlife scene, has long reigned as a gatekeeper for young queer men looking to attend exclusive parties and clubs. He now faces a range of sexual misconduct allegations — including accusations that he groped or pressured men to have sex or send nude photos, as well as a claim of sexual assault — from members of that same community, according to nine people who told NBC News about their experiences over the past decade. In 2015, Charles Battersby, then 19, was elated when Cohen offered to introduce...

CNN's Don Lemon is reportedly being sued in Suffolk County by a man who claims that Lemon sexually assaulted him last summer at a Sag Harbor bar. Current Time 0:08 Duration 0:46 Report: Jeffrey Epstein Commits Suicide Dustin Hice, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, claims that Lemon assaulted him in July 2018 after he offered to buy Lemon a drink at the bar and Lemon declined. According to the lawsuit, which was obtained by Mediaite, Lemon approached Hice later that night "and, after putting his hand down his shorts he 'vigorously rubbed his genitalia' and 'shoved his index and middle...

The 37-year-old Indiana mayor — a graduate of Harvard and Oxford universities, Rhodes Scholar, Afghanistan veteran and musician — sent social media ablaze Monday night when he delivered a touching message to the people of France in the wake of the Notre Dame blaze — in fluent French. English and French are just two of seven languages that Buttigieg speaks. “To the people of France, I would like to say that Notre Dame cathedral was like a gift to the human species,” the Democrat told a reporter from the French station BFM TV at a fundraiser in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “We...

Yesterday, the Washington Examiner did its best to confirm that South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is officially a contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. As befits a bona fide challenger, the Examiner took a peek into his past and pulled out an interesting nugget. As it turns out, Buttigieg was raised by a Marxist. To wit: The father of Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg was a Marxist professor who spoke fondly of the Communist Manifesto and dedicated a significant portion of his academic career to the work of Italian Communist Party founder Antonio Gramsci, an associate of Vladimir...

Presidential candidate and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said during his interview with USA Today that it is hard to look at the actions of President Donald Trump and think he believes in God. “I’m reluctant to comment on another person’s faith, but I would say it is hard to look at this president’s actions and believe that they’re the actions of somebody who believes in God,” Buttigieg said. “I just don’t understand how you can be as worshipful of your own self as he is and be prepared to humble yourself before God. I’ve never seen him humble himself...

Sen. Cory Booker, New Jersey Democrat, said his “love” for President Trump will not stop him from preventing his re-election to the White House. One of more than a dozen Democrats currently seeking the party’s nomination to run against Mr. Trump in 2020, Mr. Booker discussed his admitted affection for the president when being interviewed Friday by “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert on CBS. “You talk a lot about love, love of your country, love of your fellow man. You’ve said very specifically that you don’t have any hate in your heart,” said Mr. Colbert. “You have even said that...

Professional golfer Tadd Fujikawa has come out as gay, and may be the first men's pro to do so. 'So...I'm gay,' the 27-year-old announced on Instagram. 'Many of you may have already known that. I don't expect everyone to understand or accept me.

CNN host Don Lemon fired back at President Trump on Saturday after the president sent a tweet attacking Lemon and questioning the intelligence of NBA star LeBron James, whom the CNN host interviewed this week. Lemon pointed out James's recent decision to open a school in Ohio for at-risk third- and fourth-graders as evidence that the NBA star was no "dummy" after Trump wrote Friday that Lemon had managed to make James look intelligent, which he said wasn't "easy to do." "Who’s the real dummy? A man who puts kids in classrooms or one who puts kids in cages?" Lemon...

Fox News host Shep Smith on Tuesday slammed President Donald Trump for how he conducted himself at a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accusing him of giving Kim everything he wanted while receiving virtually nothing in return. “America demanded complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization. … There’s no guarantee of that, not even words to that effect,” Smith said of the agreement signed between Trump and Kim, which says North Korea will work toward denuclearization but doesn’t offer specific details on how this will occur. The Fox News host decried Trump for offering his signature to an agreement...

Trump Tweeted this morning: Donald J. Trump‏   The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him! https://twitter.com/Rebecca00893300/status/940920698771529728 Anderson Cooper responded: Anderson Cooper‏ Replying to @realDonaldTrump Oh Really? You endorsed him you tool! Pathetic loser. https://twitter.com/andersoncooper/status/940913050005237762 First of all, Trump did not endorse Moore in the primary. He endorsed Strange. He's not denying he supported Moore in the general; he just thought he'd have a hard time winning....

Democratic Kentucky state Sen. Julian Carroll was officially removed from his position as minority whip Sunday following a local news report that alleged the lawmaker groped a male staffer in 2005. The Senate Democratic caucus formally voted to remove Carroll and called for him to resign his office, according to a Spectrum News report. “In light of recent media reports, the Senate Democratic Caucus has voted to remove Senator Carroll from his leadership position as minority whip,” Senate Democrats said in a statement. “The Senate Democratic Caucus calls on Senator Carroll to resign his Kentucky State Senate seat, immediately.” The...

"It is true that if you had pictures of everything I had done when I was in high school, I probably wouldn't have been president of the United States," Obama said in a speech in Chicago. "So, I would advise all of you to be a little more circumspect about your selfies, and what you take pictures of," he said. "Just a suggestion."

A gay rights activist, who moved to France to escape persecution, claims he was raped by an American man in Marseille who said 'you French people hate Trump'. The 35-year-old says he was drugged at a bar on Friday by two men who were American and English, who then took him to a hotel room. The LGBT activist claims the American said: 'You French people…you hate Trump. And you listen to black and Arabic music.' He told a news website his alleged attackers beat him and tied his wrists and ankles with ripped up bedsheets.

Singer John Legend ripped President Donald Trump in a feature for Fault magazine’s latest issue. Asked how he’s raising his daughter, Luna, in the era of Trump, Legend said: “Hopefully ‘Trump’s America’ won’t last very long and we get him out of here within the next four years.” “By the time Luna is old enough to be aware of what is happening, America would have elected a far better president,” the ten-time Grammy-winner said. Legend was a fierce supporter of Hillary Clinton’s candidacy; he performed last summer at an all-star concert fundraiser for the former Democratic nominee. The “Darkness and...

Lindsey Graham was not in complete agreement with President Donald Trump's inauguration speech on Friday, saying that he "doesn't know what America first means." “To the president, if America first is a throwback to the 20’sand 30’s isolationism when it was first used as a phrase, the world would deteriorate even quicker, if it is a new way of Ronald Reagan’s peace through strength I would like to work with him. I don’t know what America first means,” Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation."

Am I the only one somewhat put off by the Heineken Light TV spot with Neil P. Harris asking if it's OK to flip another man's meat? T'ain't funny, McGee. I'll never buy a Heineken light.

SELF-RIGHTEOUS HYPOCRITE?

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- YouTube star Calum McSwiggan has been charged in connection with an incident in West Hollywood, where he claimed he was attacked outside a gay nightclub in June. Prosecutors on Thursday charged McSwiggan with one felony count of vandalism exceeding $400. He had previously been charged with one misdemeanor count of filing a false report to a peace officer related to the same case. McSwiggan, who is known for his LGBT YouTube channel, says he was brutally assaulted by three men after leaving The Abbey on June 27. Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene after McSwiggan...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The LA County District Attorney’s office has filed a felony vandalism charge against an online personality they said filed a fake police report and told authorities he had been beaten and attacked by three men in West Hollywood last June. Calum McSwiggan, who is known for his online posts and videos, has been charged with vandalism for suggesting the men also damaged a Lexus which they said he damaged. The DA said original charges were dismissed Thursday to make way for a newly filed felony case.

Sen. Lindsey Graham has predicted a massive loss for Donald Trump in November, saying the GOP presidential nominee has alienated voters to the point of no return. “Reality is reality,” the South Carolina Republican said Tuesday on WABC Radio’s Imus in the Morning, BuzzFeed first reported. “Mitt Romney got 27% of the Hispanic vote. By 2050, a majority of the country will be African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and others, and we’re losing demographically. We’ve gone from 44% with Bush to 27% with Romney, and I don’t think Donald Trump’s gonna get 20%,” Mr. Graham said. “The problems we’ve had with young...