Pete Hegseth, co-host of the “Fox & Friends” talk show, is Trump’s pick to run the Defense Department.
Hegseth (photo left, bio here), 44, a Princeton graduate, served in the Minnesota National Guard and saw combat duty in the Iraq war. But he has a ton of personal issues, including an apparent drinking problem, that may prevent him from being confirmed.
He also cheated on both his wives, and his own mother called him a “woman abuser.” His contempt for women carries over into his policy views; he disparages women serving in the military, and says they’re useless in combat roles (for more on this, see story here).
But his weird views about the military don’t stop there. He wants to fire generals and admirals who support DEI or other so-called “woke” policies. (Never mind whether they’re effective leaders, or whether these policies add to military efficiency.) According to a CNN story here, he supports
- using the military against domestic “riots;”
- “enhanced interrogation methods such as waterboarding;”
- pardoning US soldiers convicted of war crimes; and
- targeting cultural institutions for drone strikes.
Hegseth’s definition of “riot” is flexible and politically selective; he suggested on Fox that he would’ve sent troops to break up Seattle’s CHOP protests (detailed here), but he’s called the Jan. 6 rioters “patriots” and supports their release from prison.
Finally, apart from his womanizing and “woman abuse,” Hegseth has Trump-like character deficiencies: He was kicked out of two veterans organizations for “financial mismanagement and personal misconduct,” according to a New Yorker story here.
But the biggest concern for American citizens should be how he would use — and misuse — the world’s most powerful military; and whether he would drive out an officer corps that took decades to put in place.