Mississippi GOP Leader Loses It as Experian Exposes Election Disaster

Mississippi’s Senate race was marred by people being wrongly disqualified from the state voter rolls because of bad data, and the Republican secretary of state is having trouble taking responsibility.Secretary of State Michael Watson’s office used data on expired addresses from the credit agency Experian to purge Mississippi’s voter rolls, even after being warned that the data was unreliable. On Thursday, Watson threatened to sue the credit agency in a deleted social media post, according to Democracy Docket, after Experian told The Atlantic earlier this week that its data shouldn’t have been used for voter records.“The solution provided at that time consisted of supplemental address information and was not designed or intended to validate voter records,” Experian vice president for corporate communications Scott Anderson said.In his now-deleted post, Watson claimed that the credit agency was “crawfishing away” from the state, tagging the Election Assistance Commission, an independent government agency that aids states with elections.“Should we consider a lawsuit?” Watson wrote to the EAC. “They marketed a product for a specific reason and are now saying it wasn’t designed for that reason. More to come …”Watson posted again the same day, attacking an article by Experian on its website saying that commercial data could be used to improve voter records.“Since Experian doesn’t like the heat and appears as if they will not stand by their customers, they may want to delete the below piece from their website,” Watson wrote in a post that is still up.In a statement to Democracy Docket, Watson’s communications director, Elizabeth Jonson, said that “Mississippi was never told the data was only supplemental or that it was not intended for this use.”But Mississippi Today reported as early as March that Experian’s data was faulty, and a coalition of civil rights groups sent another last-minute warning to Watson’s office four days before the midterms asking him to reinstate people who were kicked off the voter rolls because of Experian’s data. Those warnings went unheeded, and the state’s election results dragged on because thousands of residents were forced to use affidavit ballots, which had to go through extra steps of verification before being counted. Kevin Hassett, the smiling face of President Donald Trump’s disastrous economic policy, is expected to leave his role as director of the National Economic Council.Hassett is expected to depart sometime in the next few weeks, three people familiar with his plans told Semafor Friday. Trump’s happy warrior has been eyeing different positions in the administration since well before the midterm elections, some people said. Affordability emerged as a major issue in the recent midterm elections, where Republican candidates suffered sweeping losses and Democrats flipped both the House and Senate. The economy has become one of Trump’s worst issues; a recent poll found that 67 percent of Americans disapproved of the president’s handling of the economy. As the mouthpiece for Trump’s crumbling economy, Hassett lied about lowering prices, denied data, and, of course, blamed everything on former President Joe Biden. And he did it all with a grin on his face. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who could hold both jobs, and his counselor David Zervos are among those being considered to replace Hassett. This news comes amid renewed calls to remove Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, this time over his alleged efforts to shield Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and a suspected Chinese intelligence asset from scrutiny.Read more about the economy:Florida Republicans likely thought their anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion law would only target funding and programs for racial minorities and the LGBTQ community. It accidentally ended up getting a St. Patrick’s Day parade canceled too.The city of Delray Beach announced earlier this week that it is canceling the St. Patrick’s Day parade, alongside the city’s annual Pride celebration, thanks to Florida Senate Bill 1134.“Following a review of the legislation and its requirements, the City has determined that it is legally prohibited from organizing, funding, or promoting these events in 2027,” a statement from the city read. “Although the city is no longer able to fund these events, it does not prevent private entities from sponsoring these or similar events.”The language of the new law, which goes into effect on January 1, “establishes restrictions on municipal funding, promotion, and official actions involving activities defined under the legislation as diversity, equity, and inclusion.”Residents of Delray Beach in South Florida are incensed by the news.“Are they gonna cancel the Christmas parade as well?” one woman opined. “There’s a lot of issues going on here. And it’s weird.”Following the outrage, Delray Mayor Tom Carney announced on Wednesday that he would attempt to salvage the event, but did not explain how.“I’ve read your social media posts, received your emails and it is clear that the parade means as much to you in the community as it does to me,” he wrote online. “With that, I’d like to announce that the city is working feverishly with multiple entities to ensure the 2027 St. Patrick’s Day parade goes on as scheduled! I cannot go into details now, but I will bring you the updates as things progress with our negotiations. For those who live, work & play in Delray, we want the Delray Beach St. Patrick’s Day parade to stay!”These are the natural consequences of reactionary anti-DEI laws—you start with stopping white children from reading Toni Morrison, and before you know it, you’re also banning Irish Americans from having a St. Patrick’s Day parade. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in line to be speaker of the House, was heckled by multiple protesters in Denver Friday, calling on him to support the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.Jeffries was being interviewed by Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov at the What’s Next conference, hosted by the Majority Democrats organization. In the middle of the conversation, Jeffries was called out by people in the crowd, calling him a “fucking liar” and “traitor” and attacking his record as minority leader.yikes -- Jeffries's talk in Denver is being disrupted by a string of protesters, one of whom screams obscenities at him pic.twitter.com/zyiYkgdSIj— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2026 The protesters called on Jeffries for not supporting Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, as well as for his meeting with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law over the summer. “The American people demanded impeachment!” one protester yelled. “Your version of accountability is shaking hands with the Trump family!”Another told Jeffries that he “better not let a single Democrat vote for BAAJA,” referring to the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, which critics say is a giveaway to Big Oil.“Why should we trust you when you’re in the pocket of corporations?” the heckler yelled as he was escorted from the room. “When you take money from private equity, you don’t fight for the people.”Jeffries ignored all the protesters. “Remember, ya’ll, I grew up in Brooklyn,” he said.Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer each faced calls to step down from their leadership roles following the midterm elections, but only Schumer has a declared challenger, in Senator Chris Van Hollen, right now. No challenger has stepped up to take on Jeffries, even though House Democrats have been bombarded with phone calls and online petitions opposing him for speaker. If Jeffries’s opposition can’t coalesce behind an alternative, he will very likely be the next speaker of the House.On the other side of Congress:Texas Representative Chip Roy ripped into his own party during a half-hour rant on the House floor Thursday, slamming Republicans for failing to prioritize the American public over their own political interests.“Somebody tell me why Republicans lost last Tuesday? I’ll say it’s because they were focused on themselves and the ruling class and not the people,” Roy declared.Roy rejected the idea that conservative candidates lost because of the ongoing war in Iran, instead insisting that voters are tired of “corporate crony government interests” and Republican-led redistricting efforts that ran roughshod over local electorates. He celebrated the fact that Republicans passed Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” in 2025, but lamented that they “didn’t campaign on it.” “Spent our time trying to focus on political power rather than focusing on the people who sent us here to represent them,” he said, noting that the culmination of his party’s midterm failures “pisses [him] off.”“The arrogance! The arrogance of the powers that be, the masters of the universe, who tell you that that’s what you have to do,” Roy continued. “And when you pursue political power over the people, you lose, and that’s what happened. That’s what happened.”The 54-year-old Texas lawmaker did not run for reelection during the 2026 midterm cycle. Instead, he cast his hat in the race for Texas attorney general and lost. He will leave Congress on January 3.Republicans suffered historic losses last week, losing control of both the House and the Senate by a spectacular margin. Even historically deep-red states such as Kansas, Iowa, and Texas ideologically flipped, ushering in a new wave of Democratic leadership.In Texas, the conservative caucus even lost four of the five supposedly GOP-friendly seats it had created through recent gerrymandering efforts, initiated at the president’s behest.Read more about the midterms: