Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth faced a divided Senate Armed Services Committee during his heated confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Republican senators used the opportunity to blast President Joe Biden’s Department of Defense, while Democrats questioned the Fox News host’s qualifications and personal history. Hegseth defended himself against accusations of sexual harassment, heavy drinking, and financial impropriety, articulating his and President-elect Donald Trump’s vision for a strong, woke-free military.
“The Department of Defense under Donald Trump will achieve Peace Through Strength,” Hegseth vowed. “And in pursuing these America First national security goals, we will remain patriotically apolitical and stridently Constitutional.”
“Unlike the current administration, politics should play no part in military matters,” he added. “We are not Republicans. We are not Democrats. We are American warriors. Our standards will be high, and they will be equal (not equitable, that is a very different word).”
A popular theme of distrust with the establishment’s approach to warfare emerged throughout the hearing. While select senators faulted Hegseth for his lack of conventional qualifications, others praised him for the same reason.
“For all the talk of experience and not coming from the same cocktail parties that permanent Washington is used to, you’re a breath of fresh air,” lauded Senator Jim Banks. “If you weren’t paying attention to what this election was all about, it was about the disruptors versus the establishment. And the American people have had enough of business as usual for the same people that we line up for these same jobs, who give us the same results.”
Hegseth agreed, “I feel, frankly, a little bit liberated that I didn’t work at Lockheed or any number of picketed-fence contractors…. I don’t have a special interest in any particular system or any particular company or any particular narrative. I want to know what works. I want to know what defeats our enemies, what keeps us safe, what deters them, what keeps our enemies up at night. Whatever that is, I want more of it.”
Answering concerns about his personal conduct, Hegseth blasted the “left-wing media” for elevating anonymous sources and second-hand accounts above his own record.
“They didn’t print my quote. They didn't print any of my quotes,” he cited from friends and family who defended him.
Ultimately, he accused the media of acting irrationally and unethically against him because they fear what he and Trump represent.
“Why do they want to destroy me?” he asked. “Because I am a change agent and a threat to them.”
Watch the full hearing below:
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