Free Republic

Former President Trump signaled his opposition Thursday to legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. despite his previous support for banning the social media app. In a post on Truth Social, the former president claimed a TikTok ban would benefit Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, who serves as CEO of its parent company, Meta. “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” Trump said. “I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!” Facebook banned Trump in January 2021 in the wake...

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon slammed Democratic messaging about MAGA, or “Make America Great Again,” Republicans on Wednesday, telling Democrats to “grow up” and “listen” to supporters of former President Trump. “When people say MAGA, they’re actually looking at people voting for Trump and … they’re basically scapegoating them,” Dimon told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I don’t like how [Trump] said things about Mexico … but he wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues, and that’s why they’re voting for him,” Dimon continued. “And I think people should be a little more respectful of our fellow citizens.”

Most Americans in a new poll said they would take candidates’ abortion policies into consideration before voting them into public office. The new CNN poll released on Tuesday found that 55 percent of U.S. adults would consider a candidate’s position on abortion as one of several important factors when voting, while 29 percent said they would only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion. Another 16 percent said they do not see abortion as a major issue that would affect how they cast their ballot, according to the poll. The survey also found that Americans hold largely...

Sixty-one percent of Americans in a new poll released on Thursday said they disapprove of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the ruling on Saturday. A little over half — 53 percent — said they strongly disapprove of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that found that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, the poll from NBC News found. Of the 36 percent who said they approve of the ruling, 27 percent said they do so strongly. Just 9 percent said they somewhat approve of the...

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to CNN. The former House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot alleged last September that Gingrich had provided feedback to the Trump campaign about advertisements promoting the former president’s unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud and discussed “coordinating” state electors. In a letter to the former Speaker requesting a voluntary interview, the committee said that Gingrich communicated with former Trump senior advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Miller on campaign ads about the election, after it had been declared for...

A large majority of Americans in a new poll said they find it believable that former President Trump paid adult-film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to keep her from talking about an alleged affair between the two. Seventy percent in the Reuters-Ipsos poll released on Tuesday said they find the allegations at the center of the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the former president to be very or somewhat believable. While most Democrats — 89 percent — said they found the allegations believable, while 50 percent of Republicans also agreed that the claims against the former president...

American officials estimate that nearly 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in Moscow’s nearly yearlong conflict with Ukraine, The New York Times reported. The rising number of casualties is driven in part by heavy fighting in Bakhmut and Soledar in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is increasingly sending poorly trained recruits and convicts to the front lines in an effort to deplete Ukrainian artillery, according to the Times. However, officials have warned that the casualty numbers — which are based on satellite imagery, intercepted communications, social media, on-the-ground reporting and official government numbers — are difficult to estimate and...

President Biden’s approval rating rose to 44 percent in a new Emerson College survey released on Tuesday. The 5-point improvement in Biden’s approval rating — up from 39 percent in Emerson College’s November poll — comes as the president is reportedly preparing to launch his reelection campaign in the coming weeks. ADMINISTRATION Biden approval rating ticks up to 44 percent in new survey BY JULIA SHAPERO - 01/24/23 10:08 AM ET SHARE TWEET AP-Carolyn Kaster President Joe Biden meets with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. (AP...

Republicans have responded to the recent attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with a mix of messages, some of which have prompted sharp criticism from Democrats. Many in the GOP, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former Vice President Pence, have vocally condemned the attack. Former President Trump has opted, in contrast, to remain silent, while responses from several other Republicans have attracted criticism from Democrats for apparently using the situation to advance a political message. Paul Pelosi was attacked by an intruder in his and the House Speaker’s San Francisco home...

Most gun owners, including Republican ones, said they support several proposed laws to prevent people with a high risk of violence from accessing guns. Gun safety organization 97Percent, which touts itself as a bipartisan group of both gun owners and non-gun owners, noted in its report on the research that this defies the current perception that there is an “intractable divide” over gun control in the U.S. “The myth of an intractable divide in our country is merely that: a myth,” the group said in its report. More than 70 percent of gun owners said they support laws prohibiting gun...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is maintaining a 7-point lead over his Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke, according to a new poll released on Wednesday. The University of Houston-Texas Southern University survey found that 49 percent of likely voters supported Abbott, while 42 percent supported O’Rourke. The results of Wednesday’s survey track with other recent polls. An August poll from the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler also showed Abbott holding a 7-point lead over O’Rourke. Support for the two candidates breaks down sharply along partisan lines, with “virtually every Texas Democrat” intending to vote for O’Rourke...

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said she believes the Republican Party is "very sick" and may not be able to recover in the near future. The GOP "is continuing to drive itself in a ditch, and I think it’s going to take several cycles if it can be healed," Cheney said, according to The New York Times. "I would much rather serve with (Democratic Reps.) Mikie Sherrill and Chrissy Houlahan and Elissa Slotkin than (Republican Reps.) Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, even though on substance certainly I have big disagreements with the Democratic women I just mentioned," Cheney added, per...