by Steve Benen | Nov 5, 2026 | 2026 election, elections, Maddowblog
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure has been scandalous for a great many reasons, but among the former Fox News host’s more controversial moves is the aggressive purge campaign he’s led. Just two months ago, The New York Times reported that Hegseth’s firings have been so dramatic that he’s left the U.S. Army “essentially rudderless” during an ongoing war in the Middle East.
Political scientist Caitlin Talmadge, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who specializes in foreign policy and military operations, noted via social media earlier this year, “Firing senior officers for cause is one thing. Firing them repeatedly on this scale and with no explanation is unprecedented in our nation’s history.”
The list is not short, though among the notable names is retired three-star Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, who led the Navy Reserve and whose lengthy and decorated career came to an abrupt and unexpected end in August 2025, when Hegseth fired her without cause.
“I was one year into what is normally a four-year job [and] was notified that I was being relieved, effective immediately,” Lacore later told MS NOW’s Jen Psaki. “I struggled to figure out what was next for me. But the one thing I couldn’t shake was this feeling that I wasn’t done serving.”
Lacore added, “I can’t sit on the sidelines. I can serve differently.”
At that point, the retired Navy admiral took on a different kind of challenge: She decided to launch a Democratic congressional bid in an open South Carolina district. The odds were most definitely against her. Outgoing Republican Rep. Nancy Mace was re-elected by nearly 17 points in this same district two years earlier. Donald Trump
by Chris Walker | Nov 5, 2026 | 2026 Elections, Donald Trump, election integrity, elections, midterms, News, Trump election fraud claims
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump told reporters that he would only accept the results of the 2026 midterm elections if he felt they were “honest” — echoing statements he’s made in the past while peddling baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. When asked by journalists if he would “respect” the results of the midterms, Trump indicated his response may depend on the elections’ outcome.
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by Sharon Zhang | Nov 5, 2026 | 2026 election, 2026 Elections, Corruption, DOGE, Donald Trump, elections, Elon Musk, Michigan, Mike Rogers, News, Republicans
The world’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk, recently took another record: He is now the largest single political donor in modern American history, according to an analysis by The Washington Post, after pouring nearly half a billion dollars into backing Republicans in this year’s midterm elections. This has contributed to an enormous gap between Republican and Democratic political spending this…
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by John Kasich | Nov 5, 2026 | elections, Opinion
Across the country, you could feel the anger and frustration bubbling up long before Election Day. There were signs people were tired of the chaos and the name-calling. They were disgusted by the meanness they saw coming from the Republican Party. They wanted the economy to get better, and many wanted an end to the war with Iran.
Too many Republicans in Washington had little to offer on the issues that concerned people most. What voters saw instead was blind loyalty to President Donald Trump. When Republicans lost the House and the Senate, it was a devastating blow, and they earned it.
When Republicans lost the House and the Senate, it was a devastating blow, and they earned it.
But for all that, this could actually be an exciting time to be a Republican. A party with a long and important history in this country has a chance to rebuild around the ideas and values that once drew people to it. I’m talking here about fiscal responsibility, which helps create the conditions for economic growth.
And to do that, the party had better make room for some of the loyal Republicans it left behind in recent years. I count myself among them.
I’m thinking of people who spent much of their lives working for what they understood to be conservative Republican principles and who, somewhere along the way, found themselves on the outside of a party they had helped build. These folks, including leaders like former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who has publicly criticized Trump and the Republican Party’s loyalty to him, have more to offer than their votes in the next
by Cleber Lourenço | Nov 5, 2026 | brazil, elections, Flavio Bolsonaro, JD Vance, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Meta, minerals, News, Polymarket, rare earth minerals, Social Media
On Tuesday, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino ordered the Federal Police to investigate suspected foreign financing of Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign. Bolsonaro lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the runoff. The investigation will also need to determine whether any connection exists between political support for the senator and foreign interests in Brazil’s rare earth and…
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by Theia Chatelle | Nov 5, 2026 | Bedouin, Benjamin Netanyahu, elections, Gaza, Israel, Knesset, Likud, News, Palestine, Palestinians
Jaffa, Israel — Outside of Ahva Elementary School in Ajami, a historic Palestinian neighborhood just south of central Tel Aviv, the mood was defiant on October 27, the day of Israel’s national elections. “We fear that if we do not get this government out of power, we will lose everything,” one Palestinian voter told me after casting her ballot. It came as no surprise that she…
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