Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) called the Inspector General report on the “so-called scandal” surrounding War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of a Signal chat a “nothingburger” on Sunday. On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked Schmitt about the Signal issue, quoting the Inspector General report. “Here’s a quote from the Department of Defense Inspector General report on that release of sensitive information over the Signal app. According to the inspector general, ‘the Secretary sent information identifying the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory over an unapproved, unsecure network approximately two to four hours before the execution of those strikes. The Secretary’s actions created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots.’ Isn’t that a concern?” Stephanopoulos asked. “I reviewed the IG report, and it’s a nothingburger. The fact is, there was allegations that this was confidential or classified information. … It wasn’t. There was no operational integrity problems,” Schmitt said, going on to note that both operations Rough Rider and Midnight Hammer were “executed flawlessly.” 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. “There’s no confidential or classified information that was disclosed,” the senator added before pivoting to highlight the legitimate scandal from the Biden administration in which former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underwent an undisclosed medical procedure without notifying the president. “Literally, we had a Secretary of Defense that wasn’t on duty, and nobody knew about it. Like, that’s a real problem. This was a nothingburger, and that’s what the IG report that I read last week in the SCIF indicated.” Stephanopoulos pressed further, but Schmitt reiterated that no classified information was disclosed, and that Signal was “approved by the U.S. government for communications” before the “so-called scandal started.” “But I think the bigger issue was, you know, in the previous administration, you had real operational risk, you had a department, you had a Secretary of Defense that was incapacitated in a surgery, and nobody knew about it for days. That’s a problem,” Schmitt concluded. Sen. Eric Schmitt tells George Stephanopoulos that he reviewed the IG’s report on the alleged release of sensitive information on the Signal messaging app: “There’s no confidential or classified information that was disclosed … This was a nothing burger.” pic.twitter.com/ZNfL4aWoP6 — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 7, 2025

Republicans took a victory lap when Matt Van Epps defeated leftist Democrat Aftyn Behn in Tennessee’s special election this month. But what, if anything, does Van Epps’s victory mean for Republican prospects as we head into the 2026 midterm elections? The Daily Wire asked three Republican strategists to share their key takeaways from this race. All three said that Democrats run the risk of killing any momentum they have if they nominate far-left candidates in primaries for competitive seats. “For all the handwringing about margin of victory, this was nearly a double digit win. Special elections are special for a reason, and Republicans were wise to leave nothing to chance and sprint through the tape,” South & Hill Strategies co-founder Colin Reed said, calling Van Epps the “type of candidate the GOP needs more of.” “There are some useful lessons looking forward for both parties: for the GOP, the midterm political climate remains challenging, as it always does for the party in charge, and for the Democrats, they need to nominate less extreme candidates if they want to compete beyond the deep blue bastions of America,” he said. “That’s a challenge for them because the far Left is where all the energy and enthusiasm resides.” 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. The results of the 2026 midterms will shape the final two years of President Donald Trump’s time in the White House. Currently, there are 220 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the House of Representatives, with two seats that are vacant. The magic number for a majority is 218, which both parties are vying for both on the campaign trail and in mid-decade redistricting battles. Van Epps won with roughly 54% of the vote, leaving Behn with just over 45%. In 2024, Rep. Mark Green, who resigned earlier this year, won the seat with 59.5% of the vote, with President Donald Trump also winning heavily. Van Epps was sworn in on Thursday. The race led to surrogates campaigning left and right, from President Donald Trump phoning into a rally with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), to former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris and Al Gore hoping to rally the troops for Behn. Despite her loss, Behn expressed confidence about the margin by which she lost, as she ran her campaign largely on affordability, but faced a wave of scrutiny for her past far-left comments on abolishing prisons, law enforcement, and abortion. “Tonight, we did something everyone counted out. We proved to a nation that states like Tennessee are still worth fighting for,” Behn posted to X on Tuesday. “The margin was close, and that can only be attributed to the thousands of volunteers who showed out. This is just the beginning.” Chris Burger, founder and CEO of the Tennessee-based Rotunda Public Affairs, said that “voters weren’t buying what she’s selling.” Burger pointed out how the Democrat was in a primary with three others: Darden Copeland and state Reps. Bo Mitchell and Vincent Dixie. “This is what happens when you have four people in a Democratic primary, and they elect by a pretty close margin, the most extreme left-wing person in the race, and then all the far-left activists and the national media complex come together,” he added. “They put all their attention and money into it, and they threw the kitchen sink at it. And you know, Aftyn’s a far-left socialist and she does not represent the Seventh District or Tennessee values at large,” he said. A third GOP operative, who spoke with The Daily Wire on background, said that they are “very encouraged” by Tuesday night’s results, and said that “a nine-point margin is really strong compared to what we’re seeing in other elections this cycle.” However, the operative cautioned that special elections are just that — special — and that turnout likely looks very different from that during a standard election. The operative also pointed out the major messaging pivot by Democrats between the start of the year and now, which went from focusing highly on Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to discussing the cost-of-living. “Affordability, they call it, was a con job by the Democrats,” Trump said during his cabinet meeting earlier this week, as he often blames Democrats and the Biden administration for policies that triggered high inflation. Burger said that the affordability argument from Democrats like Behn falls flat on its merits when people consider the “policy objective” the candidates are campaigning for. “If you look at what the Democrats want to do: government involvement. And government involvement typically always drives the price up.

A twice-deported illegal immigrant with a rap sheet allegedly brutally stabbed a man on a Charlotte, North Carolina, train. Honduran illegal immigrant Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is accused of stabbing a man with a “large fixed-blade knife” on a light rail train Friday, leaving him in critical condition, according to the Charlotte Observer. He was first deported from the United States on March 9, 2018, before he crossed the border illegally again and was removed in 2021, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Solorzano-Garcia snuck back in undetected for a third time on an unknown date. He was previously arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, using a false ID, and has convictions for robbery and illegal re-entry. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called it a “heinous” attack, saying that her agency has taken action to ensure he faces justice. 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. “ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is not released back into North Carolina neighborhoods,” Noem said. “Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the county will honor the detainer since they have a history of not cooperating with ICE.” “Under President Trump, ICE is being unleashed to ensure public safety for all Americans. Make no mistake: We will not rest until every depraved criminal illegal alien is removed from our communities,” Noem said. Both President Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy commented on the incident: ?An illegal immigrant who was previously deported is now accused of attempted murder for stabbing a man on the Charlotte Light Rail this week? This is just MONTHS AFTER the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska.@POTUS is right… ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We need justice NOW! pic.twitter.com/rnQBer1W3L — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) December 7, 2025 The latest stabbing comes just four months after the unprovoked murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, in Charlotte. Decarlos Brown Jr. allegedly stabbed Zarutska repeatedly in the neck as she was commuting from her job at a local pizza joint. Last month, the Trump administration deployed federal immigration agents to Charlotte, leading to hundreds of arrests of illegal immigrants in response to local sanctuary policies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the second phase of a U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza was close, but cautioned several key issues still needed to be resolved, including whether a multinational security force would be deployed. Netanyahu, speaking to reporters alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem, said that he would hold important discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of the month on how to ensure the plan’s second phase was achieved. The prime minister’s office in November said that Trump had invited Netanyahu to the White House “in the near future,” although a date for the visit has not yet been made public. Netanyahu said that he would discuss with Trump how to bring an end to Hamas rule in Gaza. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is entering its second month, although both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce agreement. Netanyahu said that it was important to ensure Hamas not only upholds the ceasefire but also follows through on “their commitment” to the plan to disarm and for Gaza to be demilitarized. Israel retained control of 53% of Gaza under the first phase of Trump’s plan, which involved the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza and of Palestinians detained by Israel. The final hostage remains to be handed over are those of an Israeli police officer killed on October 7, 2023 fighting Gazan militants who had invaded Israel. “We’ll get him out,” Netanyahu said. Since the ceasefire started in October, the militant group has reestablished itself in the rest of Gaza. According to the plan, Israel is to pull back further in the second phase as a transitional authority is established in Gaza and a multinational security force is deployed, Hamas is disarmed, and reconstruction begins. A multinational coordination centre has been established in Israel, but there are no deadlines in the plan and officials involved say that efforts to advance it have stalled. “What will be the timeline? What are the forces that are coming in? Will we have international forces? If not, what are the alternatives? These are all topics that are being discussed,” Netanyahu said, describing them as central issues. Merz said that Germany was willing to help rebuild Gaza but would wait for Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump, and for clarity on what Washington was prepared to do, before Berlin decides what it would contribute but that phase two “must come now”. Israel has repeatedly carried out air strikes since the ceasefire came into effect that it says are fending off attacks or destroying militant infrastructure. Gaza’s health ministry says 373 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire started. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants. 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. Netanyahu said that he would also discuss with Trump “opportunities for peace”, an apparent reference to U.S. efforts for Israel to establish formal ties with Arab and Muslim states. “We believe there’s a path to advance a broader peace with the Arab states, and a path also to establish a workable peace with our Palestinian neighbours,” Netanyahu said, asserting Israel would always insist on security control of the West Bank. Trump has said he promised Muslim leaders that Israel would not annex the occupied West Bank, where Netanyahu’s government is backing the development of Jewish settlements. The “question of political annexation” of the West Bank remains a subject of discussion, Netanyahu said. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell and Andreas Rinke, additional reporting by Steven Scheer and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Louise Heavens and Philippa Fletcher)

Churches are not the only institutions that view baptisms as a stat line. After years of athletes giving their lives to the Lord, Baylor University has also started keeping count. Baylor athletes wear their faith on campus as proudly as the names on their jerseys. “There’s not very many schools across the country that have a competitive athletics program that combine that with a faith-based mission within the school,” Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson told The Daily Wire. “Fortunately, Baylor is one of those schools that does that.” The largest Baptist school in the country has baptized hundreds of athletes in the last five years alone. Credit: Baylor Athletics “Being able to be a part of the athletes’ lives and their spiritual journey is one of the coolest things about working at Baylor,” Head Basketball Coach Scott Drew told The Daily Wire. Drew has been at Baylor since 2003, so he’s seen many lives changed. “We have close to 26 campus ministries. The local churches are packed with Baylor students on Wednesday night. At Sunday church service … there’s probably 500 to 1,000 college kids every service I’m there. At the end of the day, it’s because we have great leadership at Baylor University.” The football team’s faith took the spotlight this season when 10 players were baptized by teammates. Moments Like This Last Forever. Last night, 10 of our own took the next step in their faith through baptism ?⬇️ pic.twitter.com/U9U6GNRe0x — Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 5, 2025   Robertson, who leads the team on the field, helped baptize some of the players, including his former receiver, whom Robertson baptized before Thanksgiving. Last night, Monaray Baldwin returned home to Waco and publicly declared his faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. #SicEm pic.twitter.com/MmGLI3lCvO — Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 26, 2025   “How it normally goes is when a player decides that they want to get baptized and give their life to Jesus, they get to decide who baptizes them. So it just happened that three guys wanted me to do it. That’s not something you turn down.” Robertson also baptized Nate Bennett, his backup quarterback. Credit: Baylor Athletics “He’s awesome,” Robertson said. “He’s like a little brother to me, and he would get mad if I said that, but I only say that because he’s younger than me, so I think I’m allowed to say that, but I love him so much.” The baptisms are part of a player-led Bible. About 5-6 small groups meet on Tuesdays to study a video series put together by a teammate. This semester, it was organized by a safety on the team, Michael Allen. The team studied the book of Genesis and looked at Joseph’s life. Robertson said a lot of the team related to this one, which may be why it was the largest group they’ve had commit their lives to Jesus. 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. “Joseph is sold by his brothers because they were jealous of him. Then he gets accused of something that he didn’t do, and gets thrown in prison for two years, and then he eventually always works his way up to second in command of Egypt. The guys are just like, ‘How did he stay the course? This is incredible.'” Robertson calls leading the Bible study a “calling.” For some players, the football team’s Bible study may be the first one they’ve been part of. “That’s been definitely the most fruitful thing,” the quarterback continued. “You can kind of tell based off the questions that are getting asked when you break off into small groups. People have said they had no clue this was a thing, like they didn’t know about this.” I interviewed @BUFootball Quarterback, Sawyer Robertson, on the recent player-lead baptisms. 10 Baylor Football players were baptized at the end of their Bible study. Story Sunday on @realDailyWire. pic.twitter.com/Nnmf5ca13K — Lynden Blake (@LyndenBlake) December 5, 2025 The Bible studies are held anywhere there’s room at the athletic complex, including team meeting rooms and locker rooms. The same goes for baptisms. Coach Drew has baptized so many of his players over his 23 years in Waco — sometimes right on the court — that the team now has a baptism wall honoring all the players who have dedicated themselves to Christ. Credit: Baylor Athletics “Our chaplain baptized five players on the way down to the University of Texas,” Drew said with a laugh. “We’re versatile.” Thankfully for current athletes at Baylor, the days of bringing a cold tub to center court for baptisms are over. The Bears have new athletic facilities, which include a large, warm therapy tub. Some say it’s perfect for baptisms. “It works quite well,” Robertson added. “All the other guys that are part of the player-led Bible study, there’s about 30 to 40 people now, and they’re cheering and applauding, it’s just encouraging.” Credit: Baylor Athletics As you walk around campus, you notice Bible verses everywhere. The basketball team attends a chapel before every home game. Coach Drew calls it a “Christian atmosphere” that leaves an impact on players long after they’ve graduated. “I keep some of the letters from past players,” Drew said. “Whenever you’re having a really bad day, or you’re like, why do we do what we do, you pull out one of those letters, and it makes it all worthwhile.” Robertson’s relationship with God keeps him grounded through the grind of being a college athlete. “I want to be as successful as possible, but at the end of the day, if my relationship with the Lord isn’t right, then none of what I do on Earth matters,” he says. “At the end of the day, like it’s got to be my foundation, and I’ve got to make that the priority of my life.” Before games, the quarterback reads 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” “I like thinking about that one before games because it kind of like relaxes me and takes the pressure off, even though I know there’s a lot of people watching. Just going out there and not having any fear of it and just playing, playing to honor God, really, it relieves some of that pressure.” The 22-year-old also lives by Mark 8:36: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” “It’s not all about likes and popularity and attention,” Robertson adds. “But seeking something that’s actually like true and like what can I put my identity in.” If you Google Scott Drew, you’ll see how the world views the veteran coach. He’s a National Championship coach and a three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year. Accolades he’s beyond proud of. But Drew said the only winning that lasts is winning eternity. “One day I’ll get to heaven and see a bunch of Baylor Bears up there,” he says. “People we had a chance to help grow spiritually.”