Fox News host and military veteran Pete Hegseth has been picked by US president-elect Donald Trump to serve as defence secretary.
The 44-year-old “Iran hawk” and vocal supporter of Israel, in his coverage and on social media, is set to lead one of the world’s most powerful militaries. Trump described him as “tough, smart, and a true believer in America First”.
My interview with Israeli PM @netanyahu today. Israel needs our support! pic.twitter.com/2Y9FAKUeDG
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 17, 2024
Hegseth has served as an infantry captain in the US Army in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, criticism has poured in over his lack of senior military and national security experience.
The host of Fox and Friends Weekend and Fox Nation is also being criticised for, among other things, his defence for service members accused of war crimes. His lobbying led to two service members accused of murder being pardoned by the Trump government in 2019.
Trump's nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense dishonors the military. I'm not familiar with the Golsteyn or Lorance cases, but Gallagher is a psychopathic war criminal whose fellow Navy Seals attested to his murder of a prisoner of war. pic.twitter.com/baza3PquDr
— Robert Wright (@robertwrighter) November 13, 2024
here’s pete hegseth, fox news host and trump’s pick for secretary of defense, nearly killing a drummer with an axe on live TV pic.twitter.com/b1RHmVz6vZ https://t.co/qkpekjqnIQ
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) November 13, 2024
Soon to be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth complained on Fox that veterans who use the benefits they've earned are dependent on the government and lack "personal integrity".
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) November 13, 2024
This is what every Vet who wore their MAGA hats to the VA hospital voted for.
pic.twitter.com/H1bfbCLPUi
What the fuck, this guy is going to be the DEFENSE SECRETARY?
— Jim Stewartson, Antifascist ☠️ (@jimstewartson) November 13, 2024
This guy is going to be the civilian head of the most lethal force in world history? PETE FUCKING HEGSETH????
I smell toast y’all. What?
pic.twitter.com/5o6qiROaMc
Trump just appointed Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense.
— Bryan Friedrich (@500Indy1911) November 13, 2024
Pardon the hyperbole, but there has NEVER been a more unqualified person for Secretary of Defense.
He’s a Major in Army Minnesota National Guard.
What do my Active/Retired military friends think?
Trump has lost… pic.twitter.com/81Wd615Wd7
MSM weirdly slow out of the gate on openly fascist anti-vax Pete Hegseth as Trump Secretary of Defense, considering he just published a book on his views of the military, War on Warriors. Some excerpts, in which he attacks "diverse" soldiers and seems to be calling for civil war. pic.twitter.com/ExrqyqQf6Y
— Jeff Sharlet (@JeffSharlet) November 13, 2024
Hegseth has also authored books, including the bestseller The War on Warriors, that Trump earlier lauded for revealing the “leftwing betrayal of our warriors”.
Now, amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Hegseth’s role will be crucial in the US’s approach toward geopolitics.
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