Navy Admiral Fired By Hegseth Torches Trump Admin

Nancy Lacore – A three-star former Navy Reserve chief, fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year, is now the Democratic nominee for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District after beating Mac Deford and says the administration’s treatment of senior military leaders

An abrupt dismissal from the Pentagon didn’t end Nancy Lacore’s service. It pushed her into politics.

On Tuesday, on a national interview with MS NOW host Jen Psaki, Lacore—described as a three-star admiral and former chief of the Navy Reserve—recounted how Pete Hegseth, then Defense Secretary, fired her last year as part of a broader purge of senior military officials.

“It was an abrupt end,” Lacore said. “I was one year into what is normally a four-year job, you know, was notified that I was being relieved, effective immediately. I walked out of the Pentagon an hour later — and I struggled to figure out what was next for me.”

She said what stayed with her wasn’t just the loss of a position; it was the feeling she wasn’t done.

“But the one thing I couldn’t shake was this feeling that I wasn’t done serving. I thought I was going to be in uniform serving for three more years and decided there’s too much at risk. I can’t sit on the sidelines. I can serve differently.”

Lacore launched her campaign in January. After her appearance, she learned on air—before she could pivot fully to the next stage of her run—that she had defeated Mac Deford to win the Democratic nomination for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

The seat is held by Rep. Nancy Mace (R), setting up a general-election contest that Lacore frames as a referendum on both federal priorities and the way the administration handles the people who wear the uniform.

When asked why she thinks Democrats can be competitive in her district, Lacore pointed to the everyday strain Americans say they’re living with.

“I think the fact that every day we turn the TV on and this administration is doing something that harms Americans helps, right?” she said. “People are fed up with this administration. And … I focus on what matters to everybody in this district … the cost of living, affordability.”

She linked that pressure to her view that Hegseth’s approach to military leadership is not an internal personnel story—it’s a signal to service members and the country.

Lacore said her district has “a huge veteran population” and that constituents who come to her are “fed up” and approach her “in tears.”

At the heart of her argument is what she described as the administration’s cost priorities in the context of foreign conflict. She said Hegseth has requested an additional $80 billion from Congress to help cover the cost of the war against Iran, calling that demand “predictable” and “unacceptable.”

“I think that’s just the way this whole administration has been running,” Lacore said. “They think there’s just an open checkbook, and they can keep doing what they feel like, and then they’re just going to get it all covered. And it’s more of the same from this administration.”

She also criticized what she called the timing and substance of the purge while the country is in a major conflict, arguing it sends a message that service members—now and in the future—aren’t wanted.

“And as you can see, it hasn’t gone so well,” she added.

Her campaign, however, was showing traction by the end of the interview. After learning she had won the Democratic nomination, Lacore returned the conversation to what comes next: taking the Republican-held seat in this year’s midterm elections.

For Lacore, the lesson of her own firing is now stitched into the pitch of her campaign—through veterans who say they’re fed up, and through a dispute over what the administration will ask Congress to pay, even as it reshapes the military from the top.

Nancy Lacore Pete Hegseth Navy Reserve South Carolina 1st Congressional District Nancy Mace Mac Deford Democratic nomination midterm elections war with Iran $80 billion veteran issues