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6+ min ago (383+ words) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during travel to Washington, D.C., from Palm Beach International Airport, Florida, U.S., November 30, 2025. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden The fact that Virginia and Pennsylvania are swing states and New Jersey is light blue (as opposed to deep blue like Massachusetts, Maryland or California) drew a lot of attention, and the races became largely a referendum of Donald Trump's second presidency and the far-right MAGA movement. Now, almost a month after the November 4 races, a special U.S. House election in Tennessee's deep red 7th Congressional District is drawing close scrutiny because of how close it is in polls " which have found Republican Matt Van Epps narrowly leading Democrat Aftyn Behn, a state lawmaker. In an article published on December 2, the Washington Post reports that Republicans are nervous about Van Epps' performance in polls " as he should have double-digit leads in…...

9+ min ago (829+ words) Left inset: Tiakayla Hendrix (WHAM/YouTube). Center inset: Roy Chambers (WHAM/YouTube). Right inset: Malakai Stovall (GoFundMe). Background: The New York home that was set on fire by Tiakayla Hendrix's sister, killing 5-year-old Malakai Stovall, while Tiakayla and Roy Chambers kept a lookout (WHAM/YouTube). A man and woman from New York who kept a lookout for an arson accomplice " who set the wrong house on fire in retaliation for an alleged attack on her dad, killing a 5-year-old boy who was asleep inside " were both sentenced Monday for their roles in the murder. Tiakayla Hendrix, 22, and Roy Chambers, 36, both pleaded guilty to keeping an eye out while Hendrix's sister, Taquida Hendrix, sparked the July 2024 house fire in Rochester that claimed Malakai Stovall's life. They were sentenced to nine years and 12 years, respectively, as part of their plea deals. Taquida's…...

13+ min ago (187+ words) Sanchari Ghosh is a political writer for The Mary Sue who enjoys keeping up with what's going on in the world and sometimes reminding everyone what they should be talking about. She's been around for a few years, but still gets excited whenever she disentangles a complicated story. When she's not writing, she's likely sleeping, eating, daydreaming, or just hanging out with friends. Politics is her passion, but so is an amazing nap. The United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, is one of Donald Trump's chipmunks, which means that she will repeat the words of her leader-in-chief And that is exactly what is happening After Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan immigrant, shot at two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., recently, resulting in the unfortunate death of one individual and leaving the other critically injured, the Trump administration has done…...

15+ min ago (619+ words) Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene attends pro-Trump supporters rally at New York criminal court on April 4, 2023 during appearance by Former President Donald Trump Jr, Image via Shutterstock. As President Donald Trump's approval ratings plummet, "one of the greatest and most destructive cons in American history" is about to fall, writes USA Today's Rex Huppke. This fall, Huppke says, is "going to be spectacular" as Trump remains "horrendously unpopular and [a] swiftly deteriorating lame duck focused more on building a glitzy ballroom or possibly invading Venezuela than on making life better for Americans." According to the most recent Gallup poll, Trump's approval rating was at 36 percent and his disapproval rating was at 60 percent "a new second term low. "Anywhere you look, this is the second worst for a president of either party at this point in their second term, dating all the…...

16+ min ago (375+ words) Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough noted that the Trump administration is "not fighting" pushback from "lefties" in the fallout over a reported double tap strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel, but backlash from "Fox News contributors" and Republicans enraged by "alleged war crime." Legal experts have warned the decision may have been "illegal" under international law. President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Sunday that Hegseth told him he did not say those words and that he believed the Pentagon chief " although added that he would not personally have ordered the second strike. Still, as scrutiny piled on Hegseth on Monday, he tweeted out "support" of Bradley and his "combat decisions," appearing to indicate the admiral was responsible. During Monday's Morning Joe, Scarborough, however, noted the bipartisan concern around the incident, specifically from "Fox News contributors." The…...

19+ min ago (487+ words) Experts say dip likely a return to more typical levels after unusual spike in preceding years, warn gun violence remains a major issue. The United States has witnessed the lowest number of mass killings in 2025 in two decades, according to a database tracking such incidents. While that figure could yet rise in December, it is a drop of nearly 59 percent from 2019, when a record 41 mass killings occurred. The database uses police and FBI reports, media articles and court records to track mass killings, defined as incidents in which four or more people were killed intentionally within a 24-hour period, not including any offender. James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University who manages the database, told AP that the tally for 2025 was down about 24 percent compared with 2024, which in turn was about a 20 percent drop compared with 2023. He said the…...

19+ min ago (193+ words) Comments made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a highly-publicized " and criticized " gathering at Quantico at the end of September may come back to haunt him as lawmakers announce hearings into possible war crimes by Donald Trump's appointee to head up the Pentagon. During Hegseth's appearance, that was notable about his complaining about "fat" military personnel, he also made it clear he did not feel soldiers should be constrained from doing their jobs as he saw them. On Tuesday morning, the co-hosts of "Morning Joe" resurfaced a clip from Hegseth's rant that likely will be used against him when hearings are held. In the video, an animated and pacing Hegseth boasted, "We're training warriors, not defenders. We fight wars to win, not to defend. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters…...

24+ min ago (392+ words) Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has ripped into a series of Truth Social posts made by Donald Trump. The 58-year-old comedian would tear down a post made by the president which included his Thanksgiving message and a controversial attack on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Speaking in the opening address of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host suggested one of Trump's posts in particular had people laughing at him, not at the country. Kimmel would take aim at the "laughed at" section of the post, using it as a segue into people mocking the president and his later comments on Truth Social. The talk show host said, "'Murdered, mugged, beaten, and laughed at?' I hate to be the one to tell you, our country isn't being laughed at, they're laughing at you." Kimmel would then turn his attention to later in the…...

29+ min ago (897+ words) CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins hit President Donald Trump and his Defense Department with a receipt from the Pentagon's Law of War Manual in response to the deadly strikes on alleged drug boats. Trump has waged a campaign of aerial bombardment against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean for months, killing dozens of people in at least 21 strikes that we know of. The campaign has been criticized over the legality of the strikes " and that was before the revelation that survivors of one strike were ordered to be killed. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was blamed for giving the order in initial reporting, but has since pointed the finger at Admiral'Frank Bradley " while claiming to fully support him. On Monday night's edition'of CNN's'The Source with Kaitlan Collins, the anchor ran down the latest developments in a…...

31+ min ago (257+ words) Inset: Tamala Rudeseal (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Arizona apartment complex where Tamala Rudeseal allegedly attempted to kill her boyfriend by slashing his throat (Google Maps). An Arizona woman allegedly slashed her boyfriend's throat on Thanksgiving and then called 911 to report it, later telling cops "I hope he is dead" and "I planned on doing the other side and then stabbing him in the heart," according to court documents. "I did just try to murder you," Tamala Rudeseal recalled telling her boyfriend, according to court documents obtained by local CBS affiliate KTVK. "Today is my Independence Day," Rudeseal allegedly said. "God, I hope he is dead," Rudeseal allegedly told cops while being interviewed about the attack, which occurred at an apartment complex on South Country Club Drive. "It'd be a favor to me, his wife, and his children." More…...