Free Republic

President-elect Donald Trump fired back at Meryl Streep Monday morning after the actress denounced his campaign rhetoric during a speech at the Golden Globe Awards Sunday night. Streep ripped Trump for his obvious mockery of a journalist's physical disability in late 2015, and Trump responded by once again denying that he meant to make fun of the reporter's condition. [SNIP] As I've written before, Trump's defense simply isn't believable. Kovaleski, who covered Trump long before the real estate mogul entered politics, has said that "Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years." Trump was undoubtedly aware of Kovaleski's...

The national field director for Donald J. Trump’s campaign — who is a loyalist to Corey Lewandowski, the embattled campaign manager — resigned in a letter to Mr. Trump on Monday afternoon. “I want to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to serve you and your campaign over the past 7 months,” Stuart Jolly, the director, wrote in his resignation letter. “The journey has been extraordinary and many experiences on this journey will never be forgotten.” Mr. Jolly, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was especially loyal to Mr. Lewandowski, whom he had worked with previously at Americans For Prosperity,...

No-one doubts that Cruz, a former national college debating champion, is exceptionally bright. Most exceptionally bright people cannot resist the temptation to wing it, simply because they can. Not so Cruz. He combines high intelligence with enormous discipline and capacity for work. Betsy McCaughey, a former Republican Lieutenant-Governor of New York, observes that self-discipline of this kind bespeaks humility: he is smart enough to know that even smart people can make big mistakes, and that hard work is the best insurance against missteps. Humility is not a personality trait one immediately associates with a politician who has opposed virtually all...