State Champ Radio politics
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is currently in the crosshairs of some members of the military and Congress after details of a September strike on alleged drug boats went wide. With President Donald Trump’s backing, SecWar Pete Hegseth appears shifty yet defiant on the orders to take out the boats, raising more questions than providing concrete answers.
At the root of the discussion is a September 2 operation near Venezuela involving alleged drug trafficking boats that was struck once, with some surviving the hit. It was reported by the Washington Post that a “kill them all” order came from Hegseth, which some consider a violation of international convention.
In a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (December 2), Hegseth spoke with confidence that the strikes will continue under his orders, but curiously wouldn’t pin the aforementioned order to his vest. In fact, Hegseth said he wasn’t present for the second strike that killed the survivors, adding that he entrusted Admiral Mitch Bradley’s leadership on the matter in a social media post on Monday (December 1).
From X:
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Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since.
America is fortunate to have such men protecting us. When this @DeptofWar says we have the back of our warriors — we mean it.
During the Cabinet meeting, Hegseth clarified his position.
“I watched that first strike live. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do, so I didn’t stick around for the hour and two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs. So I moved on to my next meeting,” Hegseth said to reporters as reported by The Hill.
Hegseth claims Bradley made the kill order to take out the survivors, despite it going against the very laws in a manual first administered by the Department of Defense (now War).
Republican Party Senator Roger Wicker, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Democratic Party Senator Jack Reed issued a joint statment last weekend stating that they will investigate the order.
According to reports, 11 people were killed in the September 2 strikes, according to the Trump administration, an operation that was widely shared on the president’s social media accounts as a show of might.
While it appears that SecWar Pete Hegseth is attempting to move beyond the controversy and forge ahead, former military members such as Sen. Mark Kelly, who has drawn the ire of Trump and other GOP members for telling military members to deny illegal orders.
Further, many see Hegseth’s words as an attempt to pin the strike on Bradley to avoid international war crime charges. Adding to this, Admiral Alvin Hosley, who is Black, announced that he was retiring in October amid tensions with Hegseth over the drug boat strike operation and will leave his post at the end of 2025.
On social media, some are looking at the maneuvers of the Department of War and Hegseth in particular. We’ve got some of those reactions below.
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Photo: Getty
As with just about every other industry in the world, some of music’s biggest issues in 2025 have revolved around the Trump administration. Artificial intelligence? Upon taking office, Trump revoked an order by President Biden that ensured “safe, secure and trustworthy development” of the technology. Share prices for public companies like Warner Music and Live […]
Sabrina Carpenter is putting as much distance as possible between herself and the Donald Trump administration after the White House shared a video set to her song “Juno.”
On Tuesday (Dec. 2), the pop star slammed the government for posting a compilation of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers chasing, tackling and handcuffing people on the streets while a snippet of the Short n’ Sweet hit plays. “this video is evil and disgusting,” Carpenter wrote on X.
“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” she continued.
Billboard has reached out to the White House for comment.
Carpenter’s reply comes one day after the White House first posted the video, which puts a shocking spin on the Grammy winner’s gag of “arresting” people at her Short n’ Sweet Tour for being too attractive just before performing “Juno” each night. Before the trek wrapped in November after more than a year on the road, Carpenter had distributed fuzzy pink handcuffs to everyone from Millie Bobby Brown, to TWICE, SZA and Miss Piggy of The Muppets.
The Girl Meets World alum would then dive into the song, with fans in the crowd looking forward to the new pose Carpenter would strike at every show after the line, “Have you ever tried this one?”
That same line can now be heard over the arrest footage in the White House’s video, which was posted despite Carpenter being a vocal Trump detractor. After his election win in 2024, the vocalist told fans at a concert, “Sorry about our country, and to the women in here, I love you so so so so so much … I really hope for the rest of this night you can enjoy yourselves, because you absolutely deserve it.”
This is far from the first time the Trump administration has irked musicians and their fans by using music without authorization, nor is it the first time it’s happened in the past few weeks alone. Just last month, Olivia Rodrigo condemned the White House for pairing a video encouraging self-deportations to her song “All-American Bitch.”
“don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” she wrote at the time.
Shortly before that, Kenny Loggins slammed the twice-impeached POTUS for using “Danger Zone” in an AI-generated video of himself dumping feces on “No Kings” protestors, and Swifties called out the White House for making a TikTok using Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia.”
After decades of supporting the fight against AIDS, Madonna is refusing to go backwards — no matter what Donald Trump‘s administration dictates. In a passionate post on Instagram on Monday (Dec. 1), the Queen of Pop slammed the president’s administration for shirking generations of precedent and refusing to observe World Aids Day, which has traditionally […]
Roy Rochlin / Pete Hegseth
DEI Hire Pete Hegseth could be in some serious trouble after a bombshell Washington Post report alleges he may have committed “war crimes.”
According to the Washington Post, the “Secretary of War” went overboard when he issued a “kill everybody” order when taking out a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean Sea near Trinidad.
The order was the first of many instances of the military being ordered to kill suspected drug traffickers who are allegedly smuggling fentanyl into the country via boat.
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Hegseth vehemently denied the report, taking a page out of his Orange Lord’s book and dismissing the reporting as “fake news” in one of his ridiculously long posts on X (formerly Twitter).
“As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland,” Hegseth wrote.
Hegseth went on to blame the previous administration for being soft on the recently labeled “narco-terrorists,” while promising that under his leadership, they will continue to kill them.
“The Trump administration has sealed the border and gone on offense against narco-terrorists. Biden coddled terrorists; we kill them,” he continued.
“We have only just begun to kill narco-terrorists.”
A Breakdown of The Alleged War Crimes
On Sept. 2, Hegseth allegedly gave the order to Special Operations forces to kill all 11 people on board the suspected drug trafficking boat.
After one successful missile strike, a SEAL Team 6 commander ordered a second strike, killing the two remaining survivors who were hanging on the side of the boat.
A source with knowledge of the operation told The Washington Post, “The order was to kill everybody.”
The attack kick-started airstrikes in international waters that have already killed 83 people and destroyed 21 vessels.
The Reactions To Hegseth’s Order “Kill Them All” Order
Many have come out and called what’s going on straight up “murder” and “war crimes.”
“A Secretary of Defense told operators to “kill everybody” even after the first missile strike, even after survivors were clinging to wreckage in the water. I’ve commanded missions where every order carried life-and-death consequences. I know what lawful command looks like, and this isn’t it. Killing unarmed survivors in the open ocean is a violation of the laws of war and every value we swore to uphold. And every veteran who ever carried that oath in their chest knows it,” said Phil Ehr, who is running for Florida’s 28th Congressional District and is a retired US Navy Mustang.
Hegseth might have a congressional hearing to look forward to in the near future because of his actions.
Top Republican senator, Roger Wicker, has joined US Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in calling for “vigorous oversight to determine the facts.”
Hegseth’s response claiming they are on a mission to “stop lethal drugs” isn’t looking so good right now after Trump wrote on Truth Social he was going to give convicted drug trafficker, Juan Orlando Hernandez, a full pardon.
“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump said.
Orlando infamously said that he wanted to “shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos,” and was allegedly the head of “state-sponsored drug trafficking.”
He is currently serving a 45-year sentence in a Brooklyn prison.
Secretary of Partying might be in some serious trouble.
You can see more reactions below.
Trending on Billboard
Pop superstar Sir Elton John is begging politicians around the world: Don’t let the sun go down on vital research for eradicating HIV/AIDS.
In a new cover story for Variety published Tuesday (Nov. 24), John called out a lack of political support for combatting the lethal epidemic, saying that politicians have the ability to help bring an end to the disease in our lifetimes. “I just am enraged by it,” John said. “It’s very frustrating when you’ve got the tools in your hand to end it, and then you find that countries in Africa, Russia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe won’t help.”
Turning his attention to the U.S. specifically, John praised the efforts of the current administration to bring an end to the war in Gaza, while simultaneously calling them out for fumbling an issue as vital as ending HIV and AIDS. “There’s another war with people who are suffering from HIV and AIDS that should be able to get their medicine but can’t, because governments won’t let them. It’s inhumane,” he said. “So my big beef at the moment is, yes, thank God, maybe there’s peace, after more things are sorted out. But there are crimes against millions of other people that are happening because of governments and stigma and hate.”
John has plenty of experience in the arena of combatting HIV/AIDS — his non-profit, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, is currently the fifth-largest funder for research into the disease globally. To date, the organization has helped raise more than $650 million for the cause.
When speaking about Donald Trump specifically, John made the argument that if the president dedicated his efforts to helping end the global epidemic, he could go down as “one of the greatest presidents in history” for doing so. “If he ended AIDS, that would really be a feather in his cap,” he added.
Despite John’s wishes, the Trump administration has turned the opposite direction, halting funds originally intended for global programs aimed at HIV prevention and openly threatening federal funding for domestic programs aimed at helping those afflicted with the disease.
“It’s so frustrating when you have the medicine, you have PrEP, you have the antiretrovirals,” John concluded. “We can stop the spread of AIDS, if people just got off their backsides and treated human beings in a Christian kind of way.”
Getty Images / Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez / Donald Trump
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is just like everyone else, wondering what in the world is up with Donald Trump’s mental state.
AOC blasted the current occupant in the White House after he continually lied and called for six Democrats, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander, and Colorado Rep. Jason Crow are facing the death penalty and are being accused of being traitors on Truth Social after they dropped a video reminding them not to follow illegal or unconstitutional orders.
“To be honest, the president’s remarks are, I think, indicate a level of instability, ” AOC said while speaking with reporters.
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She continued, “It’s not just shocking, it’s not just offensive, it’s bizarre, it is erratic, it’s volatile. And I think it indicates a mental state that we should all be questioning right now, whether that’s emotional, mental, what have you.”
“It is not normal to make these accusations, it is not normal to invoke these kinds of threats of violence. And it’s also not normal to also dramatically misquote, as Karoline Leavitt was doing, what these members of Congress said.”
“They made a very clear message to U.S. service members, which is that you do not have to obey an illegal order.”
“And I think that’s an important message to reiterate, because this administration seems to be increasingly trying to go down that path.”
Where is the lie?
Donald Trump Is Surrounded By Loyalists Who Don’t Question Him
Unlike his first term, when there were people bold enough to tell Trump no, this time around, he’s surrounded by loyal sycophants willing to do his bidding and enact ridiculous things that come to mind.
For example, to prove his undying loyalty, our current DEI hire of a Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, is hinting at looking into investigating those who participated in the video.
Hegseth is currently focusing on Mark Kelly, after the highly decorated veteran shared a photo of medals, accusing Kelly of showing his medals out of order, and that he will get an “uniform inspection” when he’s recalled to active duty.
Apparently, Hegseth doesn’t understand how cameras work.
We can’t wait to see this latest nonsense from Trump and his administration epically backfire.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
Pool / Erika Kirk / JD Vance
Erika Kirk and Turning Point USA are all in on a JD Vance presidency.
Speaking with Megyn Kelly, Charlie Kirk’s widow was asked by the conservative podcaster about backing a JD Vance presidential ticket, and her answer shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.
Kirk told Kelly, “It’s in the works. This was a thing my husband was very direct about. One of the last few conversations we had was how intentional he was for supporting JD in 2028.”
Turning Point USA is a conservative student advocacy group that was instrumental in helping Trump win the 2024 election by bolstering the youth turnout. The organization’s founder was assassinated while at a “Prove Me Wrong” campus event in Utah in September.
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During the interview, at Kelly’s Glendale, Arizona, tour stop, the current CEO of Turning Point USA confirmed her unwavering support for the Vances. Both the Vice President and his wife accompanied the body of Charlie Kirk aboard Air Force II, with Vance even helping with carrying the casket across the tarmac in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Is There Something Weird Going On Between Erika Kirk & JD Vance?
Speaking on the support she has received from Vance since her husband’s death, Kirk said it “has been a blessing” and that the VP and his wife, Usha, have shown her “genuine love.”
All of this is interesting because Kirk and Vance’s relationship has been put under a microscope following what social media deemed as a very awkward embrace between the “two friends” with Kirk touching the back of the married VP’s head while at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi honoring Charlie Kirk back in October.
When introducing Vance to the crowd, Kirk said, “No one will ever replace my husband, no, but I do see some similarities between my husband and JD,” which had folks on social media saying, “What?”
Kelly asked Kirk about that exact moment, and she downplayed it as an embrace between them out of mutual respect while explaining the head touching.
“They just played the emotional video. I’m walking over, he’s walking over. I’m starting to cry,” Kirk told Kelly.
“And I say, ‘God bless you,’ and I touch the back of his head. Anyone who I have hugged, that I have touched the back of your head when I hug you, I always say, ‘God bless you.’”
“That’s just me,” Kirk continued.
“If you want to take that out of context, go right ahead. Again, that to me shows that you need a hug.”
Interesting.
Does Donald Trump Approve of Erika Kirk Supporting JD Vance for President?
Then there’s also the small matter of the talk of Trump running for a third term, which is unconstitutional, but according to Steve Bannon, it’s something he and his team are actively working on, and Trump has been teasing that he will run again with the release of “Trump 2028.
Despite being a loyal lapdog, Trump hasn’t even thought about giving Vance his blessing to replace and keep the MAGA movement going.
Welp.
Then, some have noticed that Vance’s wife, Usha, whom he wished was Christian, was spotted no longer wearing her wedding ring, only adding more fuel to Vance/Kirk rumors.
We are very intrigued to see how this entire situation plays out.
You can see more reactions below.
Elsa / About This Account
In news that shouldn’t surprise a soul, it turns out those MAGA troll accounts on X, formerly Twitter, are not even based in the United States.
Before Elon Musk reluctantly purchased Twitter and stupidly changed the name to X, it wasn’t a secret that the social media platform was a hotbed for foreign influence campaigns meddling in American politics.
Russian troll farms, for example, were the focus of numerous credible reports and targeted by the United States government.
After X rolled out a new feature called “About This Account,” it became even clearer that trolls are busier than ever on the platform and are probably making money from the political madness going on between Democrats and MAGA Republicans.
Per The Verge:
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Almost immediately after the feature launched, people started noticing that many rage-bait accounts focused on US politics appeared to be based outside of the US. Profiles with names like ULTRAMAGA🇺🇸TRUMP🇺🇸2028 were revealed to be based in Nigeria. A verified account posing as border czar Tom Homan was traced to Eastern Europe. And America_First0? Apparently from Bangladesh. An entire network of “Trump-supporting independent women” claiming to be from America was really located in Thailand.
Social Media Began Sniffing Out Sketchy Accounts
It didn’t take long for users on the platform to start sniffing out other pro-MAGA accounts and exposing them as foreign influencers.
Of course, the right-wing influencers are doing the same by pulling up left-leaning/progressive accounts as foreign agents. The back-and-forth is only adding to the political vitriol currently in this country.
Hilariously, as soon as X rolled out the feature, they promptly pulled it back, noting that locations could be inaccurate due to travel, VPNs, and proxies.
While that could be true, it’s also unlikely to be the case for so many accounts.
You can see more reactions to this eye-opening development below.
Trending on Billboard
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than supporting the work of the ACLU,” Maggie Rogers told the crowd ahead of her set at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s Creatives for Freedom benefit concert on Saturday night (Nov. 22).
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Held at Pioneer Works in New York’s Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn, the event brought together a stacked lineup featuring headliner Sheryl Crow alongside St. Vincent, Mark Ronson, Joy Oladokun, Taylor Meier of CAAMP, Mon Rovîa and more. It marked the ACLU’s first benefit concert of its kind, supporting the organization’s work to protect civil rights and civil liberties. The show, presented by Ben & Jerry’s, Gabriela Hearst and YOLA Mezcal, is part of a broader ACLU initiative to unite leaders across music, fashion, film, comedy and other creative industries to spotlight the critical civil liberties issues defining today’s landscape.
“We’re living through an era of unprecedented attacks on our rights, from attacks on immigrants’ rights, speech, racial justice and LGBTQ communities,” said Nahal Zamani, ACLU’s director of state campaigns, in a statement to Billboard. “All of our voices are crucial right now. What’s more, creative voices have a unique ability to inform new audiences about these urgent issues, inspire people to get involved, and drive social change — which we need now more than ever.”
Arranged and directed by Rob Moose and Cody Fitzgerald, performers took the stage for one or two songs each, often pausing to voice their support for the ACLU and urge young people to get involved.
One standout moment came courtesy of artist Dread Scott, who, before introducing Mon Rovîa, spoke about his seminal 1989 work What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag. The piece sparked political controversy at the time for inviting viewers to step on the American flag. When Scott later burned the flag on the steps of the U.S. Capital in protest of laws restricting flag desecration, he was arrested — but the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of him and the other protestors, striking down federal flag-desecration laws as unconstitutional. Scott credited the ACLU for helping protect his work and artistic freedom.
“I tell people I make revolutionary art to propel history forward,” he said on stage. “I’m happy to be here supporting the ACLU. They do amazing work, and they have advised and represented me and my art on numerous occasions. They’ve saved my a– and enabled my art to continue to reach its audience.”
In another statement to Billboard, Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, emphasized the longstanding relationship between artists and the civil liberties movement.
“While the ACLU is working in the courts, in legislatures and on the streets, artists are helping shift narratives, broaden understanding, and move people from awareness to sustained action,” she said. “This concert is the latest event in our Creatives for Freedom campaign and we hope to continue building momentum towards change and inspiring more people to join in working for a more equitable and free future.”
Sheryl Crow opened her headlining set performing “Redemption Day,” an anti-war song she wrote in 1996 after a USO trip to Bosnia with Hillary Clinton. She shared onstage that Johnny Cash approached her after he heard the tune in 2003 and later recorded a version of it himself.
“[He] called me and said, ‘I want to know what every single line means,’ so that he could stand behind what he was singing,” Crow told the audience. “He stood against the Vietnam War, he stood up for Native American rights — which was very unpopular at the time. These are the kind of leaders and artists that we want to emulate: people who speak up and want to leave the campground nicer than they found it.”
For the finale, Crow invited the entire lineup back to the stage for a joyous singalong of her 1996 hit “If It Makes You Happy.” With Crow leading the verses, the other artists wrapped their arms around each other, swaying and singing.
“I just want you guys to know that we artists don’t take it lightly that our First Amendment is under attack,” Crow said as the night wrapped. “But these artists right here I have great hope and faith in. They lift me up, they make me want to be a better songwriter and they make me want to be a better person.”
Here’s a look at the full setlist, which was followed by a DJ set from Mark Ronson:
Joy Oladokun“I’d Miss the Birds”“If You Got a Problem”
Taylor Meier“We Will Dance Again”
Mon Rovîa“Crooked the Road”“Heavy Foot”
Andrew Wyatt“Live Free and Be Gone”
Maggie Rogers“Alaska”“Don’t Forget Me”
St. Vincent“…At the Holiday Party”“New York”
Sheryl Crow“Redemption Day”“Strong Enough”“If It Makes You Happy”
