Free Republic

The Big Apple’s hotly contested mayoral race sparked a massive first-day voter turnout Saturday, with about five times more voters hitting the polls compared to 2021 as early voting kicked off, according to the Board of Elections. The increase comes as a high-stakes showdown to replace Mayor Eric Adams pits former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an Independent, against Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party nominee and beret-wearing Republican Curtis Sliwa. The New York City BOE reported a total of 79,409 early voter check-ins as the polls closed Saturday night – a sharp jump from the 15,418 who showed up when...

@TomiLahren If they want to import cheap foreign beef, at least LABEL it as such!

There are a few reasons to doubt the American government's stated aim of wiping out these so-called "narco terrorist" gangs threatening the US from Venezuela, even after one takes out of the equation the sort of equipment the military is deploying - which isn't what they would need for effective drug smuggling interdiction. While the president acknowledges that the synthetic opioid fentanyl is a huge killer in the US (which it is) and is supplied by drug gangs (which it is), to blame Venezuela for fentanyl production is simply incorrect.Mexican cartels produce fentanyl with precursors largely supplied from China, and...

Eleanor Holmes Norton, a non-voting delegate representing the District of Columbia, has the “early stages of dementia,” according to a police report detailing how scammers took advantage of the oldest member of the House of Representatives. Norton, 88, was duped by multiple suspects Thursday who went to her Washington, DC, home claiming to be HVAC workers, according to an internal police report obtained by NBC News4. The swindlers charged $4,362 to the Democratic congresswoman’s credit card without performing any work. Norton’s “caretaker/power of attorney was not at residence” at the time the group showed up, which was just after 3:30...

A growing number of Republicans on Capitol Hill have raised concerns about President Trump’s expanding war against drug cartels carried out without consultation or authorization by Congress, and are pressing for more information and involvement in a campaign whose legal basis remains murky. Most in the group have not expressed explicit opposition to the strikes that have been carried out so far against boats in the Caribbean Sea and, this week, expanded to the Pacific. The vast majority of Republicans have enthusiastically rallied behind them, and this month, all but two of them voted to block a measure that would...

Leading Senate Republicans want to vote within the next month on a package of bills to pressure Russia to compromise in Ukraine peace talks, but it’s not clear if President Donald Trump will back the legislation. ... “I think Sen. Graham is suggesting a ‘Russia Week,’” Thune told reporters Thursday afternoon. “We’ll take a look at what that might consist of. I’ve been interested for some time in getting the sanctions bill up on the floor. We’re trying to do that in concert and coordination with the White House to make sure that we’re giving them the best possible opportunity...

President Trump is facing a growing political problem in America’s agricultural heartland, as he looks to import Argentinian beef to help bring down prices for U.S. grocery shoppers. The Trump administration is reportedly looking to quadruple low-tariff imports from Argentina, raising the quota to 80,000 metric tons per year. The news has enraged America’s beef farmers — and the Republican senators who represent them. “This isn’t the way to do it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said of Trump’s efforts to drive down prices. “It’s created a lot of uncertainty in that market. So I’m hoping that the White...

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat,” DNC Chair Ken Martin stated that the Democratic Party’s job right now is to win elections, and if “we are truly in a dictatorship and an authoritarian regime here has completely shredded the Constitution, then party doesn’t matter, and then elections don’t matter and then the resistance looks completely different” “and we may be nearing” that moment, but for now, their job is winning elections. Martin said, “[L]et me say to you, what is the role of the Democratic Party in this moment? Our job is to win, to win elections. That is...

@Holden_Culotta Tucker Carlson: “What the hell is going on that Thomas Massie is a target, but Lindsey Graham has a Trump endorsement?” “Of all the members of Congress that I know, Massie is the most principled.” “If Lindsay Graham continues to get elected, then the whole MAGA thing is totally fake.” “I don’t think there are many people in the country who live out Donald Trump’s own stated principles more precisely than Thomas Massie does.” “His personal life … is like one of the most impressive things I’ve ever heard.” “He is self-reliant in the most American sense.” “This is...

The Justice Department on Thursday warned California officials, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), against engaging in an “apparent criminal conspiracy” to arrest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued the letter to Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins after the former House speaker suggested Wednesday that local police could arrest ICE agents if they violate state laws while carrying out immigration enforcement operations. “Rather than supporting and working with federal law enforcement professionals, California politicians, including U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco District Attorney...

@Crypto_Tengen Peter Schiff reveals he will be launching a tokenized gold product "You'll be able to buy gold on an app through your phone, the gold will be stored in a vault and then you will be able to effortlessly transfer ownership of gold to people you know or redeem it for physical gold"

Some members of Donald Trump's inner circle are serious about him serving a third term in the White House, according to Steve Bannon. Trump's former chief strategist — who has remained loyal to the MAGA movement, despite the fact that Trump fired him from his White House role less than a year into his first term — made the comments in an interview with The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and deputy editor, Ed Carr, in Washington, D.C. this week. Bannon shared his certainty that Trump will remain in office for at least another term. "He's gonna get a third...

Right-wing provocateur Candace Owens made her boldest claim yet about her former friend Charlie Kirk's assassination in a video posted online Wednesday. After weeks of spewing conspiracy theories about the assassination, Owens now appears to be explicitly blaming President Donald Trump and members of his administration for Kirk's murder. 'He gave so much of his life to Trump and to politics, and they were just like NOPE. That's it,' Owens said. 'So here's a holiday. What is with them giving them a holiday after they kill them? As soon as they give you a holiday, they definitely killed you. There's...

When House Speaker Mike Johnson (R–La.) lashed out at last weekend's "No Kings" rallies soon to arrive on Washington's National Mall, he reached for an old conservative refrain: "They hate capitalism. They hate our free enterprise system." I am sure he's correct about some of the protesters. But the message rings hollow coming from a party leader that stands by as President Donald Trump does precisely what Johnson rightly decries: substituting political control for market choice and ruling by executive order. Indeed, what began as a populist revolt against so-called elites has become a program of state ownership, price fixing...

@RandPaul Like I told @cherylcasone on @MorningsMaria, Republicans ran against Biden’s reckless spending… then adopted his spending levels. I won’t. $38 trillion in debt isn’t sustainable. It’s a threat to our economy and our dollar. I’ll keep voting no until Washington gets serious about balancing the budget.

Voters in Caerphilly are heading to the polls in a by-election to choose a new member of the Senedd. Polls are open from 07:00 until 22:00 BST, with the result expected early on Friday morning. The vote is taking place following the death of Labour's Hefin David, who died suddenly on 12 August aged 47 after being Member of the Senedd for Caerphilly since 2016. There are eight candidates standing, with all the main parties represented. The by-election will fill the vacancy until May 2026 when a Wales-wide election will decide the shape of the newly expanded Welsh Parliament. Unlike...

Senate Republicans are discussing voting on a bill that would prevent millions of low-income Americans from losing access to food aid on Nov. 1. The bill from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) would fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the duration of the shutdown, which on Wednesday entered its 22nd day. The Department of Agriculture warned earlier this month that if the government shutdown dragged on “there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a brief interview that senators were discussing “some...

@RepThomasMassie Last night, @SchmittNYC & I discussed the President’s proposal to purchase more beef from Argentina. The America First solution to rising beef prices is my bill, the PRIME Act. It would empower farmers to sell directly to consumers without corporate middlemen.

Tokyo police have arrested four individuals for trying to smuggle about 8 kilograms of powdered gold into Japan from Hong Kong. The suspects are 34-year-old Nishimura Masamori and three women in their 20s and 30s who hid it in their underwear. Police say the four brought the gold, worth about 650,000 dollars at the time, aboard a flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo's Haneda Airport in July last year. Authorities allege that they tried to avoid paying some 65,000 dollars in consumption tax and other levies at airport customs. The four have admitted to charges of customs law and consumption...

He discussed the ongoing demolition of the White House East Wing and took time to rip Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who was the only Republican senator not in attendance. “We’re just missing one person. You’ll never guess who that it is,” Trump said. “He automatically votes no on everything. He thinks it’s good politics. It’s not good politics.”