Free Republic

Former Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., is telling friends and allies he’s going to enter the race for the White House and is likely to announce his candidacy on Thursday, Fox News confirmed on Wednesday. After declaring his candidacy, Patrick is expected to travel to neighboring New Hampshire to file for the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Friday is the last day for candidates to place their names on the primary ballot. Patrick's campaign is likely to face high hurdles, including fundraising, a lack of national name recognition and entering the race extremely late in the election cycle. His move would come...

Appearing Saturday on CNN’s Axe Files, Cindy McCain reacted to recent happenings in Washington, D.C., saying the United States needs her late husband, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), “more than ever.” A transcript is as follows: DAVID AXELROD: What would John McCain be saying right now? CINDY MCCAIN: I think he’d be disgusted with some of the stuff that’s going on. I really do. He’d be railing against what’s going on. I think John provided a lot of cover for other members and when he would do it, they could get behind him. I’m not seeing a real rudder in the...

Democratic White House hopeful Joe Biden's campaign said Monday that the former vice president misspoke when he said that he immediately opposed the Iraq War. "Vice President Biden misspoke by saying that he declared his opposition to the war immediately," senior campaign adviser Antony Blinken told The Washington Post for a fact-checking piece on Biden's Iraq stance. "He opposed the way we went to war and the way the war was being carried out. He has for many years called his vote a mistake and takes full responsibility for it." Biden in 2002 voted to give then-President George W. Bush...

David Axelrod: It’s one thing to have a well-earned rep for goofy, harmless gaffes. It’s another if you serially distort your own record. @JoeBiden is in danger of creating a more damaging meme.

CNN political analysts, including Van Jones, agree that former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) had a poor performance at NBC's Democratic presidential debate.

CNN's David Axelrod mocked a tweet from former Vice President Joe Biden to former President Obama celebrating "Best Friend's Day," with the former Obama-Biden campaign chief strategist asking if it was joke. "This is a joke, right?" Axelrod, who hosts "The Axe Files" on CNN, asked in a tweet on Sunday to his 1.1 million followers after Biden, a 2020 presidential candidate, wished Obama happy “#BestFriendsDay” on Saturday. Biden's post included a photo of the bracelets he shared to celebrate his Obama's 55th birthday in Aug. 2016.

Veteran journalist Bob Woodward said he is not confident that special counsel Robert Mueller did a exhaustive job in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In a podcast interview last week with former Obama adviser David Axelrod, Woodward said the Mueller case lacks the kind of solid evidence from the Watergate scandal — mainly the thousands of hours of Nixon tapes — that could be used to determine President Trump had obstructed justice. "Quality of evidence, as you know, really matters," said the Washington Post associate editor, who said he has read the Mueller report twice. Asked...

@DavidAxelrod: "Unless some better explanation surfaces, here’s the lesson of this weird turn in the Smollett case: You can contrive a hate crime, make it a national news, get caught and-if you are a well-connected celebrity-get off for $10K and have your record expunged and files sealed" "Hate crimes are loathsome. Faking them is insidious and shouldn’t be excused. Despite Smollett’s denials, nothing the prosecutor said in dismissing the case supports that. If prosecutors have evidence that contradicts the indictment THEY brought, they should share it today."

Since Donald Trump Jr. first gave an impassioned and well-received speech in support of his father and conservative values at the 2016 Republican National Convention, rumors have swirled about his own political future. At a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for President Donald Trump on Thursday, Trump Jr. told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would "never rule anything out" when it comes to potentially making a run for office. "Right now, I'll never rule anything out," said the president's eldest son, according to Newsweek. "I do enjoy it. I like being in the fight. I like being in...

Jeb Bush ‏ @JebBush Took my friend @davidaxelrod to @TheSaltyDonut and #Wynwood in Miami. Catch our #AxeFiles conversation tomorrow night on @CNN at 7:00 pm pic.twitter.com/yQlnFEGDfE— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) March 15, 2019

Former Weekly Standard editor-in-chief Steve Hayes and National Review's Jonah Goldberg will be joining forces to launch a new conservative media company, according to a Thursday report. The Axios report comes just three months after The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine that was critical of President Trump that has been printing since 1995, announced it would be ceasing publication. The report says Goldberg and Hayes, who are currently seeking investors, plan "a reporting-driven, Trump-skeptical company that will begin with newsletters as soon as this summer, then add a website in September, and perhaps ultimately a print magazine." It adds that...

SEATTLE (AP) — For a businessman who grew a small coffee roaster into an inescapable global chain, who ensured that even his part-time workers had benefits and who has given about $150,000 to Democratic campaigns, former Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz is generating tepid — or even hostile — responses within the party as he weighs a presidential bid in 2020. That’s partly because — as Schultz told “60 Minutes” on Sunday — he’s considering running as an independent, a prospect many worry could draw support from the eventual Democratic nominee and hand President Donald Trump another four years in office....

Nancy Pelosi? Nope. David Axelrod? Wrong. Unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers? You’re getting warmer…The latest assault on the Chamber has been spear-headed by none other than the President himself and picked up by David Axelrod, MoveOn.org and all the usual Astro-Turfers who receive marching orders from the DNC. It’s become part of the standard talking points for cable-news pundits and their well-programmed guests and has been the new rallying cry for the left as they try their best to explain the imminent electoral disaster that looms on November 2nd.But one group was well ahead of the curve on this movement...

WASHINGTON — Charles Barkley is weary. He was never a fan of Donald Trump’s, even before the election, but now he’s tired of ‘‘this turmoil every single day — the tweeting, the hiring and firing.’’ In an interview with David Axelrod on CNN’s ‘‘Axe Files,’’ Barkley was angry with those voted for Trump, saying that the president’s message had resonated with voters ‘‘who just won’t look in a mirror and say, ‘My life sucks because of me.’ “ ‘‘I’ve never been more angry and disgusted at this situation than I am now. This turmoil every single day — the tweeting,...

Fire and Fury: When you’re trying to pass off outrageous claims in a book planned to make you rich, make sure you get David Axelrod to “astroturf” it before it’s ready to launch. The formula is as surefire as it is simple. Write all the rot you can possibly think of while holed up in the White House West Wing; make claims you have videos to back it up, then get former Obama advisor David Axelrod to astroturf it as legit.

Archbishop of Chicago Blase Cupich took a shot at Breitbart News executive chairman and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, a devout Catholic, saying it is “laughable” to believe that financial profit is the reasoning behind the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) support for mass immigration to the United States. In an interview with former President Obama political strategist David Axelrod, Cardinal Cupich hit back at Bannon’s comments during a September segment of CBS’s 60 Minutes where he blasted Catholic Bishops for supporting illegal immigration while ignoring the issues and hardships it creates for American citizens. Bannon...

When did actors become the ultimate authority on the constitution? CNN’s David Axelrod (who, lest we forget, was Obama’s political guru) interviewed actor Tom Hanks on The Axe Files on December 2, and pushed Hanks to pontificate on Donald Trump, the constitution, and fake news. When Axelrod asked Hanks whether he was “concerned” by the president “target[ing] news organizations,” Hanks responded, “As an American, it concerns me because it’s monkeying around with our Constitution.” Again, this is David Axelrod, who worked for Barack Obama. He now has a show on CNN. He’s asking wonderfully leading questions about Donald Trump’s criticism...

Four days after Judge Schnider unsealed the custody records, Ryan dropped out of the race for the horror of (allegedly) propositioning his own wife and then taking “no” for an answer. Alan Keyes stepped in as a last-minute Republican candidate. And that’s how Obama became a U.S. senator. He destroyed both his Democratic primary opponent and his Republican general election opponent with salacious allegations about their personal lives taken from “sealed” court records. Obama’s team delved into Sarah Palin’s marriage and spread rumors of John McCain’s alleged affair in 2008 and they smeared Herman Cain in 2011 with hazy sexual...

Legendary American composer, producer and A&R rep David Axelrod has reportedly died at the age of 83. While details on his passing are currently unknown, multiple parties have come forth to mourn the lost artist. Axelrod made his name working at Capitol Records, producing other artists and releasing a dozen albums of his own. His ability to combine soul, jazz and rock elements made him an integral figure in musical history.

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