Free Republic

The media has driven itself into a tizzy in recent days, claiming that despite serving as president of the United States (and being poised to reclaim that office in less than a year’s time), Donald Trump should not be granted the same kinds of immunity and executive privilege that every other chief magistrate enjoyed before him. Showcasing their ignorance of both the Constitution and history, the mainstream media has framed the concept as something of a novel innovation for President Trump’s lawyers, who are advocating for “broad immunity,” implying that no other presidential officeholder has ever made that claim. Nothing...

Donald Trump will remain on Michigan’s state ballot after a ruling from the Michigan supreme court on Wednesday, which upheld a lower court order. The move sets the stage for the former president to participate in the Michigan primary despite accusations that he led an insurrection against the United States. The court’s decision not to move forward with a case against Trump sets the court in sharp contrast to the Colorado supreme court, which recently ruled to strip Trump from its state primary ballot because of his role in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. In Michigan, as...

Joe Biden is not closing out 2023 on a high note. Democrats are in a panic over dismal poll numbers and a genuine lack of enthusiasm for Biden’s re-election. The vast majority of voters want a different choice than Biden and Trump. Yet, that is where we are headed.Barack Obama is the latest prominent Democrat to weigh in with reservations about Biden’s chances for re-election.Those with concerns include former President Barack Obama, who “knows this is going to be a close race” and “feels that Democrats very well could lose” the 2024 election, according to a person familiar with his...

With the 2024 election now less than a year away, a new Harvard survey shows a precipitous decline in enthusiasm among young voters since the Fall of 2019. Compared to the same point in the 2020 election cycle, the number of 18-to-29-year-old Americans who “definitely” plan to vote decreased from 57 percent to 49 percent, the Institute of Politics’ survey at Harvard Kennedy School found. Estimates of turnout for this age group from the 2020 election range from about 52 percent to 54 percent. Among party affiliation, larger declines were seen from Republican (56 percent compared to 66 percent in...

There’s a strange disjunction in the discourse about the 2024 elections. On the one hand, when presented with the proposition “Trump can win,” people will nod their heads sagely and say something along the lines of: “Of course he can; only a fool would believe to the contrary.”At the same time, whenever polling emerges showing that Donald Trump is performing well in 2024 matchups, a deluge of panicked articles, tweets (or is it “X”s?), social media posts, and the like emerge, reassuring readers that polls aren’t predictive and providing a variety of reasons that things will improve for President Biden.As...

Nikki Haley, who once served as U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina governor, received a major endorsement from one of the biggest conservative activist groups in the country, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), on Tuesday. The endorsement adds another layer of complexity to the current Republican presidential primary. Haley, who has been picking up some momentum in the polling, is seen as one of the three top contenders in the primary. She is vying with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for second place behind former president Donald Trump, who still has a commanding lead on both of them.AFP's endorsement is a wrinkle in...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Populist Javier Milei resoundingly won Argentina's presidential election Sunday, swinging the country to the right following a fiercely polarized campaign in which he promised a dramatic shake-up to the state to deal with soaring inflation and rising poverty. With 99.4% of votes tallied in the presidential runoff, Milei had 55.7% and Economy Minister Sergio Massa 44.3%, according to Argentina's electoral authority. It is the widest victory margin in a presidential race since the South American country's return to democracy in 1983. In the streets of Buenos Aires, drivers honked their horns and many took to...

The Trump campaign distanced itself on Monday from a transition project led by the Heritage Foundation and other aligned groups that have broadcast their efforts to screen staffers for a second Trump administration and root out dissenters via social media posts. Trump advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita on Monday distanced the campaign from the Heritage-led effort, saying that those plans are "not authorized in any way." "Any personnel lists, policy agendas, or government plans published anywhere are merely suggestions," the statement says. "Policy recommendations from external allies are just that—recommendations." While the Trump campaign's statement did not mention the...

GOP Senator Rand Paul says that he thinks it is difficult to imagine Donald Trump winning another term in office because of the magnitude of everything that is being done by Democrats and the establishment to prevent it happening.“It’s difficult to image Trump winning, but it’s also difficult to imagine anything more unfair they could do to him, and also how pitiful the performance of Biden has been, and how frail and detached that he looked in doing his job,” Paul said during an interview with Piers Morgan.“It worries people that he is still able and has enough vim and...

ROCHESTER, N.H. – Nikki Haley is having a great fall. The former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in then-President Donald Trump's administration has been on the rise in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. While Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the GOP race,Haley has seen her poll numbers rise nationally and in the crucial early voting states, thanks in part to two well-regarded performances in the first two Republican presidential debates. "We can feel the momentum on the ground," Haley said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital...

Senator Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan are holding a two-day summit that began Tuesday. It is described as a “closed-door” summit in Park City, Utah. The Republican presidential ticket from 2012, who lost an election that should have been winnable, brought together four current presidential candidates. The four are Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, and Doug Burgum. This is an 11-year-old summit called the E2 Summit. It focuses on foreign policy, tech, and finance/business. Those attending the summit are “well-heeled, well-wired Republicans” who want to find an alternative to Trump and fund that candidate.The...

As he announced that he will be running for President as an independent candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s own siblings have thrown him under the bus and endorsed Joe Biden, labelling their brother as “dangerous” to America.Within view of where the first and only independent candidate to win the American presidency helped establish the new country’s government, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood in front of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Oct. 9 and told supporters he believes he will take a similar path to the White House. “Today, we are turning a new page in American politics,” Mr....

We already know that Donald Trump is facing some headwinds in his bid to return to the oval office, despite is growing lead in many polls. He’s facing multiple court dates dealing with indictments in four different civil and criminal cases. None of them look to me like they would survive the appeals process even if a conviction is obtained, but it’s still at least an optics problem in terms of the politics involved. And the legacy media remains nearly universally arrayed against him, making effective messaging more challenging. But he may have one other problem that isn’t being discussed...

A recent Gallup poll found that Americans trust the GOP more than the Democrats on the economy by the largest margin in more than three decades. More than half of Americans, 53%, trust the GOP, compared to 39% who say they trust the Democrats. It wasn’t the only issue Republicans had a significant advantage on, either, but the economy tends to be one of the most, if not the most important issue that tips an election one way or another. And as bad as things look for Joe Biden and the Democrats now, next year could be even worse. According...

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a lifelong, true, loyal leftist, suddenly became popular among conservatives because he was one of the few leftists to speak out against COVID vaccines. This wasn’t any particular wisdom on his part; he’s always opposed all vaccines. However, because of this stance, when RFK Jr threw his hat in the Democrat primary ring against Biden, some conservatives got excited. This man, they thought, would siphon votes away from Biden, handing Republicans a win. But that’s not what will happen—and RFK knows it. In other words, he’s another weapon against Republicans. I’ve never trusted RFK, despite his...

The University of New England welcomed two former White House chiefs of staff to the Biddeford Campus on Wednesday for the 13th annual George and Barbara Bush Distinguished Lecture Series, offering behind-the-scenes accounts of a presidential administration during a transformational time in history. Featured speaker John Sununu, former chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush, and moderator Andrew Card, once Sununu’s deputy, painted a picture of a president who cared deeply about his domestic agenda, even though he was known for his foreign policy. “George Bush’s reputation as a foreign policy president was earned,” Sununu said. “But (he) was...

If someone wanted to find a California politician who is more crooked, conniving, and self-serving than former senator and current Vice President Kamala Harris, you could do worse than turning your attention to the Golden State's chief executive, Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom.Newsom is well known in these pages for his draconian COVID lockdown policies during the coronavirus pandemic, which only served to highlight his hypocrisy when he didn't bother to abide by them himself. This is in addition to his slavish advocacy for pro-abortion and anti-gun legislation -- both at the state and federal levels. Don't forget that he has...

Back in 1984, President Reagan got the age question and turned it around masterfully by bringing up Walter Mondale's youth and inexperience. I was watching and he got reelected that night. Just for the record, Mr. Reagan turned 78 two weeks after completing two terms. Mr. Biden will be 81 this year!President Reagan had another huge advantage, i.e. a successful presidency based on a good economy and a sense that he commanded respect around the world. It didn’t hurt that the VP was a man named Bush rather than a woman named Harris. Over at the New York Times, Bret...

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez became the first Republican presidential candidate to suspend his campaign though he said he remains committed to “making this a better nation for every American.” “Running for President of the United States has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” the Republican said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. “This country has given so much to my family and me. The prospect of giving back at the highest levels of public service is a motivator if not a calling. Throughout this process, I have met so many freedom-loving Americans who care deeply...

It’s been too obvious to ignore for some time now and the most recent polling from AP/NORC confirms that people are noticing and the media is being forced to address it. Joe Biden is simply too old to be president and he can not be effective for a second term. (We can save the debate over how “effective” he’s been in his first term for another day.) Most of the legacy media has tried to ignore this fact for as long as possible, and some people like Joe Scarborough at MSNBC continue to insist that Biden is full of vim...