Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Members
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
  • Trending
  • Resources
    • Politics Extra
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
Members should sign in for the full experience.

Trump Repeats Call to Possibly Shut Down Mosques

November 16, 2015 at 7:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 98 Comments

Donald Trump “issued another call for more scrutiny of mosques in the United States as fresh fears of terrorism, spurred by the attacks in Paris, dominated the presidential campaign conversation on Monday,” the New York Times reports.

Trump said last month that he would be open to shutting down mosques and he reiterated that the idea should be studied: “I would hate it do it but it’s something that you’re going to have to strongly consider because some of the ideas and some of the hatred, the absolute hatred, is coming from these areas.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, National Security, Religion Tagged With: Donald Trump

Pope Sees Massacre as Part of a Third World War

November 14, 2015 at 12:59 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

Pope Francis called the wave of terrorist violence that killed at least 127 people in France “a piece” of the “piecemeal Third World War” and said the bloody rampage was “not human,” the New York Daily News reports.

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, Religion Tagged With: Pope Francis

Bachmann Says Jesus Is Coming Soon

November 9, 2015 at 7:10 am EST By Taegan Goddard 89 Comments

Former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called for converting as many people as possible to Christianity because Jesus is “coming soon,” The Hill reports.

Said Bachmann: “We recognize the shortness of the hour. And that’s why we as a remnant want to be faithful in these days and do what it is that the Holy Spirit is speaking to each one of us, to be faithful in the Kingdom and to help bring in as many as we can — even among the Jews — share Jesus Christ with everyone that we possibly can because, again, he’s coming soon.”

Bachmann added that “the prophets longed to see the days that you and I live in.”

Filed Under: Religion Tagged With: Michele Bachmann


You're reading the free version of Political Wire

Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.

    Upgrade Now

  • ✔ Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, a trending news page, a private podcast, no advertising and more!
  • ✔ If you're already a member, log in for the full experience.



Trump Attacks Carson’s Religion

October 24, 2015 at 4:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 56 Comments

Donald Trump took an indirect shot at Ben Carson for his religion, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “I’m Presbyterian. That’s down the middle of road. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist I don’t know about.”

Carson is a Seventh-day Adventist, a denomination that believes in a literal reading of the Bible.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Religion Tagged With: Ben Carson, Donald Trump

Tennessee Official Urges Christians to Arm Themselves

October 5, 2015 at 5:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 84 Comments

In the aftermath of the Oregon mass killings at a community college, Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R) took to Facebook to say that “fellow Christians who are serious about their faith” should “think about getting a handgun permit.”

Said Ramsey: “The recent spike in mass shootings across the nation is truly troubling. Whether the perpetrators are motivated by aggressive secularism, jihadist extremism or racial supremacy, their targets remain the same: Christians and defenders of the West.”

He added: “While this is not the time for widespread panic, it is a time to prepare… Our enemies are armed. We must do likewise.”

Filed Under: Gun Control, Religion Tagged With: Ron Ramsey

Pope Secretly Met with Kim Davis

September 30, 2015 at 7:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments

Pope Francis secretly met Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis “who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples and gave her words of encouragement,” Reuters reports.

A Vatican spokesman “said he would neither confirm nor deny the report and that there would be no further statement. This was unusual for the Vatican, which normally issues either denials or confirmations.”

Rick Klein: “It’s little surprise that this or any pope would stand up against gay marriage. But having spent time with this particular county clerk – the very public face of outright defiance of the US Supreme Court – has specific ramifications that surely the pope and those around him are aware of. Maybe that was the point – in which case conservatives have every bit as much of the right to cite this papal visit’s political message as their liberal friends.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights, Religion Tagged With: Kim Davis, Pope Francis

Bonus Quote of the Day

September 25, 2015 at 9:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 87 Comments

“He’s not a scientist, he’s a religious leader.”

— Jeb Bush, quoted by the Huffington Post, dismissing Pope Francis’ views on climate change.

Filed Under: Energy, Environment, Religion

Understanding Pope Francis’ Politics

September 25, 2015 at 9:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

“If you want to understand Pope Francis’ politics, look no further than the two American Catholics he singled out in his speech yesterday — Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, who are hardly conservatives. Also note the issues where he was specific (abolishing the death penalty, calling for action against global warming, demanding tolerance for immigrants) and where he was vague (on life and family). No doubt, Pope Francis had something for everyone in that speech. But to us, it was revealing what he underscored and what he didn’t,” First Read notes.

Wonk Wire: Why Pope Francis sounds like a Democrat

Filed Under: Religion Tagged With: Pope Francis

Huckabee Says Obama Pretends to be a Christian

September 23, 2015 at 4:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 115 Comments

Mike Huckabee told Newsmax that President Obama “pretends to be” a Christian.

Said Huckabee: “I’m less concerned about what faith the person has. I’m more concerned about the authenticity of their faith and how that plays out in their politics … I’m also concerned about a guy that believes he’s a Christian and pretends to be and then says he is, but then does things that makes it very difficult for people to practice their Christian faith.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Religion Tagged With: Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee

Carson Says Comments on Muslims Misunderstood

September 23, 2015 at 8:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 47 Comments

Ben Carson “says his controversial comments about opposing a potential Muslim president were taken out of context,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Said Carson: “It seems to be hard for people actually to hear English and understand it.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Religion Tagged With: Ben Carson

Obama Hosts Pope Francis at White House

September 23, 2015 at 7:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 6 Comments

President Obama “will host an elaborate arrival ceremony at the White House for Pope Francis on Wednesday morning in a highly symbolic encounter between the political leader of the world’s most powerful nation and the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics,” the New York Times reports.

“As it happens, in a historical aberration, Mr. Obama will host such a ceremony twice in one week, with President Xi Jinping of China visiting the White House on Friday. But the pope has generated a wave of excitement in a normally jaundiced capital that ordinary national leaders rarely produce.”

Filed Under: Religion, White House Tagged With: Pope Francis

Islamophobia in America

September 22, 2015 at 10:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 33 Comments

First Read: “Bigger than the Carson/Trump controversy over Muslims in the White House is a fact of life that many haven’t confronted: There’s Islamophobia in America. There are a few things going on here: 1) a feeling among many Americans that mainstream Muslims aren’t doing enough to denounce radicals – and 2) in some cases, a conflation of mainstream and radical Islam, perpetuated by constant coverage of the threat of extremism. The result of statements like Carson’s isn’t just that the extreme perversion of Islam is a terrifying threat, it’s that anyone of the Muslim faith could be suspect. We get it: this is an uncomfortable conversation, but it’s the one that this controversy SHOULD spark. (Although it’s not clear that it will.)”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Religion

Quote of the Day

September 22, 2015 at 7:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

“Know this, I meant exactly what I said. I could never support a candidate for President of the United States that was Muslim and had not renounced the central tenant of Islam: Sharia Law.”

— Ben Carson, writing on Facebook.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Religion Tagged With: Ben Carson

Obama Will Greet Pope Francis at Airport

September 21, 2015 at 9:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 32 Comments

“Pope Francis will arrive at a military base outside the capital on Tuesday afternoon to open his first visit to the United States, and President Obama will be there to welcome him. It is a gesture the president has extended to virtually no other foreign visitor,” the New York Times reports.

“And little wonder. For Mr. Obama, there may be no more potent ally in the world in his quest to bend the arc of history, to use a favorite phrase, than a pope who helped him restore diplomatic relations with Cuba and who has spoken out on issues like economic inequality, immigration, climate change and criminal justice reform.”

Filed Under: Religion, White House Tagged With: Pope Francis

Many Republicans Still Think Obama Is Muslim

September 14, 2015 at 8:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 79 Comments

A new CNN/ORC poll finds 43% of those who identify as Republicans believe President Obama is a Muslim, while only 15% of those who identify as Democrats agreed he is Muslim.

Filed Under: Religion, White House Tagged With: Barack Obama

Conservative Dissent Brewing Inside Vatican

September 8, 2015 at 8:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 44 Comments

“As he upends church convention, Pope Francis is grappling with a conservative backlash to the liberal momentum building inside the church. In more than a dozen interviews, including with seven senior church officials, insiders say the change has left the hierarchy more polarized over the direction of the church than at any point since the great papal reformers of the 1960s,” the Washington Post reports.

“The conservative rebellion is taking on many guises, in public comments, yes, but also in the rising popularity of conservative Catholic Web sites promoting Francis dissenters; books and promotional materials backed by conservative clerics seeking to counter the liberal trend; and leaks to the news media, aimed at Vatican reformers.”

Filed Under: Religion Tagged With: Pope Francis

Trump Plans Meeting with Evangelical Leaders

August 26, 2015 at 3:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 88 Comments

Wall Street Journal: “Leading in the polls but lacking deep political roots with the religious right, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has summoned a group of evangelical Christian leaders to his office for a meeting next month.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Religion Tagged With: Donald Trump

Pat Robertson Says Market Turmoil Is God’s Punishment

August 24, 2015 at 3:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 98 Comments

Pat Robertson says he believes the stock market’s massive sell-off this morning was God’s way of punishing the Obama administration for supporting abortion rights, Politico reports.

Said Robertson: “We will pay dearly as a nation for this thing going on. And possibly if we were to stop all this slaughter the judgment of God might be lifted from us. But it’s coming, ladies and gentlemen.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Religion

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • …
  • 26
  • Next Page »

Get Smarter About Politics

Members get exclusive analysis, a trending news page, the Trial Balloon podcast, bonus newsletters and no advertising. Learn more.

Subscribe

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • Some Thoughts on the Trump-Epstein Bombshell
  • Let’s Go There
  • The Perfect Conspiracy Theory
  • A Few Thoughts on the Epstein Files
  • Why Democrats Must Keep the Epstein Story Alive

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2025 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy | Corrections Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC