Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accused Democratic lawmakers of betraying their country for cautioning troops against obeying Donald Trump’s “unlawful orders,” but it turns out he was actually many steps ahead of them.
Hegseth, 45, predicted back in 2016 that Trump would run into trouble if he tried to get members of the military to follow “illegal orders,” according to footage dug up by CNN’s KFile. Trump, then a presidential candidate, had argued that the military should disregard the rules of law in order to win.
Hegseth had offered a prescient response to Trump’s claims at the time while working as a Fox News contributor, saying: “What happens when people follow those orders, or don’t follow them? It’s not clear that Donald Trump will have their back… Donald Trump is often times about Donald Trump.”
Hegseth has since changed his tune, however. He branded six Democratic lawmakers the “Seditious Six” and ordered a Pentagon probe into Sen. Mark Kelly after they posted a video reminding troops they must refuse illegal commands. In that clip, Kelly says, “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.”
He blasted the video as a “politically motivated influence operation” that “created ambiguity rather than clarity” around established procedures, saying it “undermines trust, creates hesitation in the chain of command, and erodes cohesion.”
His 2016 remarks, however, have come back to haunt him just as he faces a growing chorus of criticism for his own handling of orders critics believe were unlawful.
He cited his own discussions with fellow veterans at the time as the basis for his argument, saying, “You’re not just gonna follow that order if it’s unlawful.”
He made the same assertion in another March appearance that year, this time on Fox Business.
During a speaking appearance weeks later, he voiced similar sentiments, saying the U.S. military “won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief.”
Hegseth made those comments as Trump, 79, drew fire for ideas experts said breached the laws of war, from targeting terrorists’ relatives to bringing back torture. The dispute crystallized at a March 2016 Republican debate, where moderators cited military leaders who stressed that U.S. forces must reject illegal commands.
Appearing on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News show the next night, Hegseth warned: “Here’s the problem with Trump. He says, ‘Go ahead and kill the family. Go ahead and torture. Go ahead and go further than waterboarding.’”
But it’s the servicemembers who would be left holding the bag for any violations of international law, he said at the time.
The resurfacing of Hegseth’s 2016 comments comes amid intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill of U.S. military strikes on suspected “drug boats.” Lawmakers from both parties have questioned a follow-up “double tap” strike in which survivors of an initial blast were allegedly killed in order to leave “no survivors”—an action legal experts warn could violate the laws of war. Hegseth has vigorously defended the campaign.
The fallout inside Washington from the boat-strike policy has included Republican and conservative legal backlash as the White House attempts to shift blame.
The Pentagon has so far resisted calls to publicly release footage of the second strike.
This has led to Hegseth being nicknamed “HagueSeth” by social media users, due to suggestions that his operations could invite scrutiny associated with The Hague, along with other barbs like “Secretary of War Crimes.”
The Daily Beast contacted the Department of Defense and the White House for comment.
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told the Beast: “As Secretary Hegseth said last week and as a private citizen prior to holding office, the military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders.
“The orders being given to our military under President Trump are lawful, and the despicable video of the elected officials—known as the ‘Seditious Six’—urging our troops to defy their chain-of-command was a politically motivated influence operation by elected officials aimed at sowing distrust and chaos in our Armed Forces.”
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