Free Republic

Mike Dubke, President Trump's communications director, is leaving the White House — the start of a wave of changes as the West Wing struggles to cope with burgeoning scandals and a stalled agenda... Bring in the killers ... Trump is considering much broader changes, including the possibility of bringing in David Urban, a prominent GOP lobbyist who was a senior adviser on the campaign, as chief of staff. Trump met yesterday with two top officials from his campaign, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, about joining the crisis-communications war room he's setting up, perhaps as part of an outside-inside duet... Sean...

Former Vice President Joe Biden would “win overwhelmingly” against President Donald Trump in 2020 and is the only “superstar” the Democrats could run for the White House, a former Democratic National Committee chairman said Sunday. “There's only one person I can say who will definitely win the election and has a superstar appeal in almost every state in the union, and that's Vice President Biden,” Ed Rendell said on John Catsimatidis’ AM 970 radio show in New York. “To me it’s clear-cut: Joe Biden is our superstar,” Rendell added. “If he decides to run I think he will win overwhelmingly.”...

Allegations of sex abuse that began with Harvey Weinstein on the West Coast have incrementally shifted towards facets of the political, economic and media spheres of the U.S. Eastern seaboard. A surge in public willingness to come to terms with the stark reality of abuse perpetrated by members of the establishment suggests that it is time to re-examine the testimony of survivors who have previously come forward with allegations. Disobedient Media spoke with Greg Bucceroni, a survivor of sex trafficking, who described his experiences in an alleged child sex ring in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that primarily targeted...

Full title: Former DNC chair Ed Rendell: Clinton campaign is making a mistake by attacking FBI director (CNN)Ed Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania and former Democratic National Committee chairman, said Tuesday that Hillary Clinton's campaign was making a mistake by attacking FBI director James Comey over how he handled recent developments into the investigation of Clinton's private server. "I think that's, I wouldn't do that," Rendell told radio host Rich Zeoli on 1210 WPHT Philadelphia. "Again, you know, I'm not running the campaign by any means, but I wouldn't do that. I agree with you." Earlier in the interview,...

Rendell, former PA governor, Philly mayor, & DNC chair said he believes there is a hidden Trump vote, and Hillary should be afraid to death of talk that she has this won, because Trump's voters will turn out and her voters might decide not to stand on line for an hour.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday declared Pennsylvania "in play" for president, two days before his friend Hillary Clinton is slated to accept the Democratic nomination in Philadelphia. The reason? Republican nominee Donald Trump's rhetoric is resonating with "white, blue-collar workers," Rendell said at breakfast sponsored by Politico. "People have to understand, not withstanding presidential elections, Pennsylvania is not a blue state," Rendell said. "We have a Republican legislature." Rendell noted that Pennsylvania has more than 900,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, but his party's voters "don't turn out nearly as well" unless the presidency is on the ballot. Pennsylvania...

PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton's top two campaign strategists plan to cede no ground to Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. “He is not going to win this state,” Robby Mook, 36, said flatly in Clinton's cheerfully decorated but cramped Philadelphia headquarters on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. “The fundamental reason Donald Trump is going to lose this state is because he doesn't have answers,” Mook said. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, the chair of the convention host committee, a longtime supporter of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and a tireless campaigner, concurs: “But this time, it is not going to...

Former Gov. Ed Rendell says Donald Trump’s message on trade is largely correct, but that his tone is sometimes wrong on the subject. Rendell, who is the chair of the Democratic convention host committee, made the comments on SiriusXM radio’s The Dean Obeidallah Show. “The interesting thing is, I talk about China and the fact that China took advantage of us in trade and cost Pennsylvania some significant jobs, and I quoted Donald Trump in the book,” Rendell said, noting Trump backed him heavily when he ran for governor. Rendell’s 2012 book praises Trump as “a friend” who is right...

Thursday on MSNBC, the former Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), also the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in the presidential election debates, any Democrat,Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)16%, Martin O'Malley, or Hillary Clinton will "expose" Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's "lack of knowledge about things like the nuclear triad." Rendell said, "I think any Democrat,Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley,one-on-one with Donald Trump would be very advantageous. Donald does well when he controls the agenda. When speaking to a Trump rally. Even in the debates, nine, ten candidates, you know, moderators don't get to press him on substantive issues well. But...

Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) general chairman Ed Rendell says his party’s scariest opposition in 2016 would be a GOP presidential ticket comprised of Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “In terms of who we fear the most, the Democratic side, just speaking for myself, I would fear John Kasich and Marco Rubio as vice president,” Rendell told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970 on Sunday. “That would be the ticket I would fear the most.”(continued)

On Al Sharpton's MSNBC show today, former DNC Chairman Ed Rendell dared congressional Republicans to recall Hillary Clinton to testify about Benghazi. Calling her a "tough cookie," Rendell vowed that "Hillary will put them in short pants." Paging Camille Paglia . . . Rendell surely thought he was paying Hillary a compliment. But is this really the Hillary persona that Dems want to project: that of a woman who makes little boys out of grown men? View the video here.

"I think the Republicans will lose in court if they go to court. The president clearly has the discretion to tell the Justice Department who he wants to deport and who he wants to not deport, where he wants the emphasis to be, it's clearly within his rights. But more than that, if the Republican party can't control itself, if they, in fact, shut down the government because of this, they'll pay a heavy price. If, in fact, they say, we're not going to do anything about immigration, because the president took this action, they'll look like spoiled children. They'll...

CONCORD, N.C. — Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell warned Democrats today that the Republican attack alleging that President Barack Obama gutted the welfare work requirement is taking hold. "It’s starting to resonate," he told the Maryland delegation at a breakfast. "It’s starting to affect blue-collar white voters.” Rendell predicted that pushing back on the widely criticized attack will be a central component of the last Democratic president's speech. "I think the man that will push back on it will be the man that pushed for it and signed it — President Bill Clinton," Rendell said, "but he can't do it...

PHILADELPHIA (CBSNewYork/AP) — Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell says Donald Trump’s past comments on women will likely come back to haunt him because Rendell says “there are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women.”

Will [Donald Trump] have some appeal to working-class Dems in Levittown or Bristol? Sure. For every one he’ll lose 1½ , two Republican women. Trump’s comments like “You can’t be a 10 if you’re flat-chested,” that’ll come back to haunt him. There are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women. People take that stuff personally. — Ed Rendell, a surrogate for the Hillary Clinton campaign

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid could be deposed for ICE whistleblower Taylor Johnson’s new lawsuit because complaints from his office precipitated her ouster. Johnson’s attorney, Morris Fischer, told the Washington Gadfly that, “We will attempt to depose whoever is involved in this corruption up to and including Harry Reid. His fingerprints are all over the place.” The veteran law enforcement agent, who DHS fired in February after she rejected $100,000 in hush money, filed a Merit System Protection Board claim against the agency earlier this month. Johnson, a single mother of four, had a storied career until she ran afoul...

In a letter released Wednesday, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson  60% (R-WI) asked Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson for all documents and communications regarding the dismissal of ICE whistle-blower Taylor Johnson and his underlings’ secretive effort to discredit her to reporters. Confused by all these Johnsons? It’s hard not to be. The story also features a cameo by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  2% (D-NV). In 2013, Johnson, a decorated agent, was stripped of her gun and badge without explanation and placed on desk duty. The single mother of four was ousted right after Reid’s office...

So who's Hillary's enforcer? Last week we asked "who got to Donny Deutsch?" when he suddenly became supportive of Hillary whereas just the week before he had been very critical of her. Now the same thing has happened with Ed Rendell. Just yesterday, the former DNC Chairman and Pennsylvania governor was quoted in the New York Times saying Hillary has handled the email scandal "poorly, maybe atrociously, certainly horribly." But on today's Morning Joe, Ed was suddenly singing a different tune, claiming Hillary is doing everything right and plaintively suggesting that there is no problem. That led Mark Halperin to...

HARRISBURG, Pa., - Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has become the latest high-profile personality to weigh in on the debate over whether a hot dog qualifies as a sandwich. Rendell was asked by an interviewer to weigh in on the subject, which has recently become a topic of heated Internet debate, and he came out in favor of giving sandwich status to hot dogs. "It's got bread," Rendell told WPHT-AM. "Would you put a hoagie in the sandwich category? What I would think is the hot dog, the cheese steak, the hoagie, they're in the elite sandwich category...If you eat...

After Tuesday night’s catastrophic Amtrak derailment, resulting in the deaths of at least six people and injuries to more than 140 others, the political class has weighed in: we must spend more money on infrastructure.