After President-elect Donald Trump announced that Fox News personality Pete Hegseth would serve as his Defense Secretary, an old clip of Hegseth railing against "women in combat roles" resurfaced.
Hegseth said the following:
"I'm just saying we shouldn't have women in combat roles. It hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated." ...
"We've all served with women and they're great, it's just that our institutions don't have to incentivize that in places where traditionally — not traditionally — over human history men in those positions are more capable."
You can hear his remarks in the video below.
Hegseth faced harsh criticism immediately and many sounded the alarm.
And Aaron Blake, a senior politics reporter for The Washington Post, shared this interesting fact:
"When the Pentagon moved to allow women to serve in combat roles in 2013, a Fox News poll showed Americans supported that 71-26. That included 61% of Republicans."
If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth could act on Trump's campaign promises to remove generals he claims are pushing progressive diversity policies within the military—policies that many conservatives oppose.
This could put Hegseth at odds with Air Force General C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a seasoned fighter pilot with extensive command experience in the Pacific and Middle East, whom Hegseth has criticized for "pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians."
Despite limited management experience, Hegseth would oversee 1.3 million active-duty service members and nearly 1 million civilian military employees. Trump, announcing his pick, said that "with Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down."
Hegseth's selection has sparked surprise within the Pentagon, where officials have privately questioned his qualifications for the role; he is an Army National Guard veteran, has served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to his website.
A senior Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked that Hegseth would not meet the qualifications for even a much lower-level position.
Additionally, Eric Edelman, who served as the Pentagon’s top policy official during the Bush administration, said Trump's picks are largely based on loyalty, saying "it appears that one of the main criteria that’s being used is, how well do people defend Donald Trump on television."
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