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The Erick Erickson Show

S15 EP203: Hour 1 - Competence Was on the Ballot, and Why Impeaching Pete Hegseth Is the Wrong Fix

Episode length: 37m

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Erick opens with a hotter than expected October CPI inflation report and makes the case that Republicans lost the midterms on competence: suburban voters, Hispanic voters, and Republican leaning independents decided MAGA means bungling the economy, tariffs, the Iran war, and immigration enforcement. Then he breaks down Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, arguing Hegseth should be the fall guy for the Iran war but that impeachment is the wrong tool.

  • Hot October CPI report: inflation up 0.4% for the month, roughly 4% annualized, with groceries, electricity, rent, airfares, and gas prices climbing while wages fall further behind
  • Competence was on the ballot: Oconee County and Buckhead data, Mike Collins losing to Jon Ossoff, 69,000 Georgia Republicans skipping the Senate race, and Texas Republicans rejecting Ken Paxton
  • Tariffs, the Iran war missile shortage, botched deportations, and the Jensen Huang Nvidia China spy saga as reasons suburban voters now equate MAGA with incompetence
  • Erick's case for a migrant guest worker program, and a takedown of the Georgia "stolen election" theory about Tyler Harper and the agriculture commissioner race
  • Thomas Massie's six articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth, Hegseth's defiant press conference, Susie Wiles, and why nobody has been fired after the midterm wipeout

Hosted by Erick Erickson