Rachel Maddow predicts Republicans will demand Pete Hegseth’s resignation over Caribbean strikes

WASHINGTON, DC: MS NOW host Rachel Maddow predicted that Republican lawmakers will call on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to resign on Tuesday, December 2. She cited a report alleging misconduct in Hegseth’s handling of d**g boat strikes in the Caribbean as the reason behind her prediction.

Rachel Maddow says Pete Hegseth 'must resign'

Rachel Maddow voiced strong skepticism over the prospect of a war with Venezuela. She said, “I don’t understand why we’re going to war with Venezuela, and I’m not sure the administration is even bothered to try to come up with anything, even internally coherent.”

Maddow questioned the military actions, asking, “So what are we doing there in the first place? Why are we blowing out of the water and killing people in boats with outboard motors, some of which aren’t even pointed towards the United States.”

She continued, “let alone verified to have d**gs on them, let alone even if they did, if they were coming to the United States and they had the capacity to reach the United States, and they were filled with d***s,” adding, “Why isn’t it possible to just interdict them the way that we do with the Coast Guard, where you go and take the d***s and then put those people on trial and investigate and then follow the d***s to their source of origin and then take care of it?”

She called the situation a “catastrophe” and added, “I think Pete Hegseth, it’s impossible to imagine that he survives this as Secretary of Defense. I think he must resign, and I think Republicans will ask for that ultimately once they investigate this.”

Pete Hegseth faces backlash from 'The View' hosts

Pete Hegseth is facing intense criticism over recent substance-related strikes in the Caribbean that killed the entire crew of a boat. On the December 1 episode of 'The View,' the hosts debated whether the actions could constitute war crimes.

Sunny Hostin explained, “If this is deemed to be war crimes […] what you’re supposed to do under international law [is] you’re supposed to take those survivors as war criminals, prisoners of war, and you’re supposed to give them refuge, and you’re supposed to take care of them and then you’re supposed to put them into a court of law.” 

She added, “Instead, they killed them. That means the person who gave the order can be held accountable and put in prison, and that means the people who conducted the orders, who pulled the trigger, are also responsible and can be held accountable.”

Whoopi Goldberg added, “What he’s done is he’s set them up. Listen, this is not the first time it’s happened. This is like the fifth, sixth or seventh time. At some point, somebody is responsible and the buck stops there.” Ana Navarro noted that these strikes have killed “upwards of 80 people.”