The reasons to oppose Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense are impossible to refute by any rational standard. Which may be why neither Trump, nor any of those purporting to support him, have offered any coherent argument for confirming him. All they can muster is their blindly obedient opinion that it is what Dear Leader Trump wants.
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First and foremost, Hegseth has absolutely zero experience relevant to running the biggest bureaucracy in the United States federal government. His past work record contains nothing that would demonstrate the management, financial, legal, personnel, or international diplomacy skills required of a defense secretary. In addition to Hegseth’s lack of work experience, he is also lacking the moral and ethical character to perform at the high standards necessary for a top national security post.
SEE THIS: Pete Hegseth’s Mommy Steps Up to Shield Him From His Life of Alcoholic and Sexual Debauchery
As Hegseth strolls the halls of Congress to meet with the Senators who must confirm him, he has been questioned by the press about his fitness for the job. In one such incident he engaged in the following exchange with a reporter seeking his response to recent revelations about his objection to gay soldiers…
Reporter: Do you believe that gay people should be allowed to serve in the military?
Hegseth: Yes.
Reporter: Can you just respond to the CNN report this morning highlighting some of you previous comments?
Hegseth: I don’t feel the need to respond to CNN.
“I don’t feel the need to respond to CNN.” @PeteHegseth
The evolution of a legacy brand from biased…to agenda…to propaganda…to embarrassment…to irrelevant. pic.twitter.com/3yQhmrKF7R
— Will Cain (@willcain) December 12, 2024
That brief exchange revealed two glaring examples of Hegseth’s cowardice. First of all, his response that he believes that gays should be allowed to serve contradicts his previous comments on that subject. He is clearly afraid to be honest about his opinions. And it isn’t the first time that he’s reversed himself due to his fear of public backlash. He has also tried to walk back his statement that “we should not have women in combat roles.”
Secondly, his dismissal of the follow up question that sought his clarification of his past remarks exhibits his fear of CNN, or any other media that he disapproves of.
To be clear, contrary to Hegseth’s flippant dismissal, the question wasn’t asking him to respond to CNN. It was asking him to respond to himself, and what he said in the past. CNN’s reporting was not their opinion. It was about what Hegseth wrote concerning gays in the military. According to the CNN report…
“In his 2024 book ‘The War on Warriors’ and in subsequent media promotions this year, Hegseth described both the original ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ (DADT) policy and its repeal in 2011 as a ‘gateway’ and a ‘camouflage’ for broader cultural changes that he claims have undermined military cohesion and effectiveness.”
What’s more, the prospect of a Cabinet member refusing to address a serious matter by asserting that he doesn’t “feel the need to respond” to a particular news network is a flashing red light alarm. He’s saying that he doesn’t feel that he has any obligation to be accountable to the citizens he is supposed to be serving. That is not acceptable behavior in a democratic society. Which, of course, is something that Trump hopes to dispense with.
Hegseth’s nomination has been in trouble from the start. And comments like these aren’t going to help him gain favor with the senators whose votes he needs. And it surely doesn’t help that he is also unpopular with the public…
“A new survey from the Associated Press and National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago suggests that Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, has almost no popular support. According to the poll, only 17% of those surveyed said that they approved of Hegseth’s nomination.” […]
“In general, just 27% of the public is confident in Trump’s “ability to appoint well-qualified individuals to his cabinet and other high-level positions,” while 55% say they are not confident.”
As a side issue, the video above was posted by Will Cain, a co-host of the Fox News morning program, “Fox and Friends Weekend.” Which is the same program that Hegseth co-hosted prior to his nomination. Cain’s comment with the video is especially ironic. He apparently doesn’t see that it is his own network that has gone “from biased…to agenda…to propaganda…to embarrassment.”
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