Pete Hegseth, a conservative Fox News host who has railed against “woke” ideology in the military, questioned the role of women in combat, and was prevented from protecting Joe Biden as a National Guardsman because of an “extremist” tattoo, has been tapped to lead the defense department. “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Donald Trump wrote in a statement Tuesday announcing Hegseth’s nomination for defense secretary.
It’s a stunning appointment given Hegseth’s outspoken criticism of military brass and lack of experience running a large operation—never mind a department with almost 3 million employees, a nearly $850 billion budget, and tasked with safeguarding the nation. But the move speaks to President-elect Trump’s penchant for turning to sympathetic and telegenic TV hosts and pundits for plum jobs. As one source told CNN, Trump “thinks he has the look.”
Hegseth will be in good company in an administration filled with Trump loyalists and former Fox News contributors, including Tom Homan, who is expected to serve as border czar, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is expected to serve as the ambassador to Israel, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will head a new advisory committee called the “Department of Government Efficiency” alongside Elon Musk. “It appears that one of the main criteria that’s being used is, how well do people defend Donald Trump on television?” Eric Edelman, who served as the Pentagon’s top policy official during the Bush administration, told Politico. According to Media Matters, Trump has hired at least 20 officials who previously worked at Fox News during his first term.
Trump has vowed to make significant changes to the US military, ridding the institution of what he considers to be pervasive “woke” ideology. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the president-elect was considering a draft executive order to create a board that would purge high-ranking military personnel from the ranks if they lacked “requisite leadership qualities.” Hegseth would be heading the institution to be dismantled from the top, and, according to his own words, he is very much aligned with Trump. “First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said in a recent podcast interview, referring to General Charles Q. Brown Jr. The Fox News host also added that anyone involved with “woke shit” has “got to go.” He argued that this would combat “socially correct garbage,” which he claims has hurt military strength. He has also regularly questioned the role of women in combat, doubting the strength of the military with more equality and has claimed that allowing women into combat roles “hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal,” but has “made fighting more complicated.”
The nomination has shocked Washington, specifically those involved with defense governance, pointing to Hegseth’s lack of experience as a concern. While Hegseth is an Iraq War veteran and formerly served as the head of the conservative group Concerned Veterans for America, he has no senior military or government leadership experience. His name was not on the shortlist for the role. “There is reason for concern that this is not a person who is a serious enough policymaker, serious enough policy implementer, to do a successful job,” Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told the Associated Press. In Trump’s first administration, Hegseth maintained a close advisory-like relationship with the president and was particularly vital in encouraging Trump to pardon several US service members involved in high-profile war crimes cases. Trump had also briefly considered him to lead the Department of Veteran Affairs in his previous term in office.
The conservative television host has used his platform during his tenure at Fox News to preview how he would approach this role. While on air following Qasem Soleimani’s assassination and amid Iranian retaliation, he suggested that the US threaten to bomb Iran’s energy production facilities and community areas. “That is not a popular idea,” Fox News host Steve Doocy pushed back. In another clip, Hegseth can be seen saying, “I don’t care about Iranian cultural sites,” when suggesting the US take military action against them. Hegseth started contributing to the network in 2014 and was named the cohost of Fox & Friends Weekend in 2017. His final show was last week, and he was let out of his Fox News deal yesterday following news of the appointment.
In a Fox News statement in response to Hegseth’s nomination, a spokesperson for the network noted his successful run, saying, “His insights and analysis, especially about the military, resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News Media and wish him the best of luck in Washington.”
According to New York Post reporting, part of the reason Hegseth was able to secure Trump’s nomination was the success of his book, War on Warriors, which torches the embrace of “woke” policies throughout the military. This seemed to catch Trump’s attention as he touted the book in his announcement: “The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our Warriors, and how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.”
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