President-Elect Donald Trump has announced he will be replacing current defence secretary, four-star general Lloyd Austin, with Fox News star Pete Hegseth. But is there more to Hegseth than meets the eye?
Hegseth, renowned for his conservative views and “anti-woke agenda” earned a degree in Politics from Princeton before gaining a Master’s in public policy from Harvard. Post-university, Hegseth joined the National Guard, completing tours of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo. After leaving the army, he became director in organisations such as Concerned Veterans for America. On the surface, organisations such as Concerned Veterans for America appear to stand for veterans’ rights, but in reality they use this huge issue in the States to promote a conservative ideology, standing against further funding to Ukraine. Hegseth joined the Fox News team in 2017, becoming a regular host on “Fox and Friends Weekend”.
I am sure in saying, most of my lectures would agree an undergraduate degree in politics does not quite fully prepare an individual to become a Secretary of State, so why has Trump selected Hegseth, a man with zero experience in any civil service role, to run his entire defence system. I would argue Hegseth’s comments about the military over the past seven years while being on Fox News might have something to do with it. He has staunchly opposed what he describes as a “woke” military, further stating his desire to fire all top military figures who are involved in diversity and inclusion policies.
His right-wing rhetoric is also prominent in his literature. In his book American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free he critiques the rise of “progressive leftism”, claiming that “woke” policies are a threat to traditional values and even the Constitution.
On a popular chat show podcast, He stated he wished to take the military back to 1995, the time of “don’t ask, don’t tell”, conveniently. These sort of views make him the perfect candidate to join Trump’s sarcastically crazy cabinet, featuring individuals such as Linda McMahon and Robert F Kennedy Jr. In the past few days, the US police have reported details on a sexual assault case brought against Hegseth in 2017. Hegseth was not arrested or charged over the matter and his lawyer has indicated that a pay-off agreement has been made outside of the courts, deterring the victim from perusing the case. Hegseth still denies any wrongdoing.