Pete Hegseth, How Do We Hate Thee?

November 10, 2026

Let us count the ways ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

November 10, 2026

Greetings, Meteor readers,

I was at the mall this weekend and Christmas music was already playing. Folks, please, I haven’t even settled on a Thanksgiving menu (other than pecan upside-down cake for dessert).

In today’s newsletter, we’re talking about a man whose own mother called him “abusive” and “broken”: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is staring down the barrel of impeachment. Plus, a very frustrating story about grass.

My mom don’t like you either,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Get the Hegseth outta here: Yesterday, outgoing House Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced articles of impeachment against defense secretary Pete Hegseth. The articles level eight charges that accuse him of violating both federal law and the Constitution regarding the Iran war, the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro, extrajudicial murders in the Caribbean, and more. Hegseth has called this attempt at impeachment “slander,” which is rich considering he actually did all those things.

But let’s take a look at all the other terrible things he’s done. Just in case anyone needs a refresher on why this man absolutely needs to be shown the door.

All the stuff that came up during his bullshit confirmation hearing

In 2025, during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, all of Hegseth’s dirty laundry came to light, including allegations of sexual assault and other work misconduct, as well as the statements he’d made about women in the military. The one we probably should have paid attention to was when he said, “we should not have women in combat roles,” the consequences of which we will get to in a moment. One writer referred to Hegseth as a drunken, underqualified, racist, TV personality competing to be America’s Next Top Menace. Oh wait, that was me!

SENATOR DUCKWORTH DURING THE HEGSETH HEARING, WITH THE SOLDIER’S CREED DISPLAYED BEHIND HER. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

At the time, Hegseth defended his statements on women, saying that they were not derogatory, and that he merely believed that the military needed to raise its standards to better serve the American people. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a former combat veteran who questioned him during the hearings, memorably responded to that with, “Let’s not lower the standards for you. You, sir, are a no-go at this station.”

He’s tried to resegregate the military

Hegseth has spent much of his tenure actively working to segregate the military. Specifically, he has intervened in the promotions of Black officers; fired top-ranking women without cause; and denied promotions to officers who showed past support of DEI or International Women’s Day.

One of the women he fired, former Navy admiral Nancy Lacore, just became the newly elected Democratic House representative for South Carolina. If a vote on the articles of impeachment is delayed until next year, she may have a say in Hegseth’s future. “Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified secretary that this nation has seen,” Lacore said when CBS asked her about the impeachment proceedings. “He has caused significant damage to us as a country and put us at risk, and really damaged the readiness of our entire military force.” What goes around comes around.

He has a dangerous, discriminatory obsession with gender and hormones

Hegseth attacked transgender service members with the kind of precision not even the military could fathom. Not only did he enforce a sweeping ban on trans people in the military, he also ended health coverage for gender-affirming care for soldiers or their dependents. He then created a new policy to test soldiers for low testosterone and offered them the option to receive hormone replacement therapy.

HEGSETH THROWING A FIT DURING HIS 2025 HEARING. MIGHT WANNA LOWER THOSE TESTOSTERONE LEVELS. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

His defense? Hegseth referred to being trans as a “mental illness incompatible with military service.” Nothing to do with his bigotry, right?

And last but not least…

That damn title change

This is petty but after getting the job, Hegseth changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War and styled himself the Secretary of War. As someone who constantly has to write about this man for work, I would like not to have to follow his testosterone-infused style guide. (And I haven’t!)

They cannot get rid of this man soon enough.

AND:

Texas’ incoming attorney general, Democratic state senator Nathan Johnson, said he would not continue to pursue cases against doctors mailing abortion pills into the state. That is a win for Texans (and pro-choice out-of-state doctors), but the Trump administration is acting swiftly against Texas’s new blue direction. This week the Department of Justice announced it will be joining a lawsuit that could bankrupt Planned Parenthood. Former Texas AG Ken Paxton had been pursuing the case, which alleges that the organization owed $10 million to the state of Texas for misusing Medicaid payments. Now that a Democrat has Paxton’s job, the federal government is stepping in to keep the cruel case rolling.
And now for some good news out of Texas: There’s a new chief justice for the state’s supreme court, Maggie Ellis. When she’s sworn in, Ellis will officially become the first woman and first out LGBTQ+ person elected for the position. Shoutout to the rainbow wave.
A new fact sheet issued by UN Women shows that the ongoing climate crisis could push 141 million more women into extreme poverty all over the world, especially in “climate hotspots” like Guatemala, Mali, and Pakistan.
Georgia’s governor-elect, Keisha Lance Bottoms, says she still has plans to repeal the state’s total abortion ban, a promise that was a major part of her campaign. It may be an uphill battle, since Republicans in Georgia still hold a majority in the state Senate, but we’re choosing optimism!
Actress and runway model Toukie Smith has died after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. After stepping away from the fashion world in the ‘80s, Smith starred in iconic projects like “The Preacher’s Wife” and the beloved sitcom “227.” In a statement shared online, her children, Airyn and Julian De Niro, wrote that Smith’s “beauty, grace and unmistakable presence helped pave the way for generations of Black models and designers in fashion.”

SMITH AT A GIORGIO ARMANI PARTY IN 1993. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Once again, a women’s sports team is having to change its game venue last minute during a crucial series. Defending NWSL champions Gotham FC will be hosting a semifinal match at Icahn Stadium in Randall’s gotdamn Island this Sunday instead of at their home location, Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. (SI Stadium can seat 25,000 while Icahn seats just 5,000.) What’s behind the move? The field is not up to safe enough standards for the women to play and cannot be resodded in time for the game. The grass is actually in such bad shape that the team was fined earlier this month. However, the field will be used on Saturday by a men’s team, the New York Red Bulls, who are the primary tenants at SI and who had the final say on whether or not the field could be resodded. God forbid a tenth-ranked men’s team be asked to play somewhere else so that a number one ranked women’s team can resod the fuckin field.
In happier sports news, the PWHL revealed four new expansion teams. Welcome to the party Detroit Clutch, Hamilton Havoc, San Jose Sea Lions, and Vegas Vanguards.
Goop 2.0? What did we do to deserve this?
Cute for these freshman Democratic senators who showed up to orientation in matching autumnal jewel tones!