Leroy N. Soetoro
2024-11-16 22:57:20 UTC
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/who-is-pete-hegseth-secretary-of-
defense/?intcid=CNR-02-0623
In picking Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of
Defense, President-elect Donald Trump has selected a military veteran
and popular conservative media personality with a large following of his
own.
Hegseth, 44, has developed a close rapport with Trump, who also
reportedly considered him for a post in his first administration.
Hegseth has lobbied Trump to release service members accused of war
crimes.
Hegseth was valedictorian at Forest Lake High School in Minnesota and
attended Princeton University, where he played basketball. From there,
he joined the Minnesota National Guard and later the Army National
Guard. He was sent abroad three times, as part of a security platoon at
Guantanamo Bay, an infantryman in Iraq and counterinsurgency instructor
in Afghanistan. Hegseth does not have senior military or national
security experience.
Between his deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, he served in a
$110,000-a-year role as executive director of Vets for Freedom, a
political advocacy group that advocated for then-President George W.
Bush's Iraq surge.
Just weeks after returning to Minnesota from Afghanistan in 2012, he
entered the GOP race to unseat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, though his bid was
ultimately unsuccessful.
Hegseth is an active member of the American Legion in Forest Lake. The
people who know him and his family expressed their surprise on Wednesday
morning, mostly that someone from a small Twin Cities suburb could make
it to a high position.
"One of our own. Forest Lake kid. His family was very involved in the
community. His dad actually taught me when I was in high school," said
Volunteer Manager at the American Legion Greg Weiss. "It's possible for
anybody. Regardless of your political beliefs, if Pete can do it from
Forest Lake, anybody can do it. It's not the president, but it's right
next to him."
In Washington, the reaction to choosing Hegseth has been a mix of shock
and surprise.
"He does not seem to have much of a detailed background in DOD policy,"
said Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, who is a ranking member of the armed
services committee. "The lack of experience is concerning."
Hegseth has pushed for making the military more lethal and said that
allowing women to serve in combat roles hurts that effort.
"Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation
more complicated, and complication in combat, means casualties are
worse," Hegseth said during an interview last week on "The Shawn Ryan
Show" podcast to promote his new book. "I'm straight up just saying that
we should not have women in combat roles it hasn't made us more
effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more
complicated."
While he said that diversity in the military is a strength, Hegseth also
said it was because minority and white men can perform similarly,
something he said isn't true for women.
By opening combat slots to women, "we've changed the standards in
putting them there, which means you've changed the capability of that
unit," Hegseth said in the podcast interview.
Since then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter opened all combat roles to women
in 2016, women have successfully passed the military's grueling tests to
become Green Berets and Army Rangers, and the Naval Special Warfare's
test to serve as a combatant-craft crewman the boat operators who
transport Navy SEALs and conduct their own classified missions at sea.
In 2019, Hegseth urged Trump to pardon U.S. service members who had been
accused of war crimes. He advocated for the servicemen's cases on his
show and online, interviewing relatives on Fox News. He posted on social
media that pardons from Trump "would be amazing," and added hashtags
with the names of those accused to reporting mentioning his private
lobbying of the then-president.
The effort was successful, with Trump that year pardoning a former U.S.
Army commando set to stand trial in the killing of a suspected Afghan
bomb-maker, as well as a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for
ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans, killing two. Trump also
ordered a promotion for a decorated Navy SEAL convicted of posing with a
dead Islamic State captive in Iraq.
As Trump formulated his first Cabinet following his 2016 win, he
reportedly considered Hegseth to run the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He again considered Hegseth when Secretary David Shulkin faced criticism
before his ouster in 2018.
Co-host of Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends Weekend," Hegseth has been
a contributor to the network for a decade. He developed a friendship
with Trump through the president-elect's regular appearances on the
show. In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson complimented Hegseth's
military knowledge, saying his "insights and analysis especially about
the military resonated deeply with our viewers."
He's also written a number of books, several for the network's
publishing imprint, including "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal
of the Men Who Keep Us Free." In announcing Hegseth as his pick, Trump
complimented that book, noting its "nine weeks on the New York Times
best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE."
Hegseth would lead the Pentagon with burgeoning conflicts on multiple
fronts, including Russia's war in Ukraine, the ongoing attacks in the
Middle East by Iranian proxies, the push for a cease-fire between Israel
and Hamas and Hezbollah, and escalating worries about the growing
alliance between Russia and North Korea.
While the Pentagon is considered a key job in any administration,
defense secretary was a tumultuous post during Trump's first term. Five
men held the job during Trump's four years.
Trump's relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those
years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they
struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and
pronouncements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they
weren't prepared to explain or defend.
Many of the generals who worked in his first administration both on
active duty and retired have slammed him as unfit to serve in the Oval
Office. He has condemned them in return.
The Senate will still need to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary.
--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.
The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
defense/?intcid=CNR-02-0623
In picking Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of
Defense, President-elect Donald Trump has selected a military veteran
and popular conservative media personality with a large following of his
own.
Hegseth, 44, has developed a close rapport with Trump, who also
reportedly considered him for a post in his first administration.
Hegseth has lobbied Trump to release service members accused of war
crimes.
Hegseth was valedictorian at Forest Lake High School in Minnesota and
attended Princeton University, where he played basketball. From there,
he joined the Minnesota National Guard and later the Army National
Guard. He was sent abroad three times, as part of a security platoon at
Guantanamo Bay, an infantryman in Iraq and counterinsurgency instructor
in Afghanistan. Hegseth does not have senior military or national
security experience.
Between his deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, he served in a
$110,000-a-year role as executive director of Vets for Freedom, a
political advocacy group that advocated for then-President George W.
Bush's Iraq surge.
Just weeks after returning to Minnesota from Afghanistan in 2012, he
entered the GOP race to unseat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, though his bid was
ultimately unsuccessful.
Hegseth is an active member of the American Legion in Forest Lake. The
people who know him and his family expressed their surprise on Wednesday
morning, mostly that someone from a small Twin Cities suburb could make
it to a high position.
"One of our own. Forest Lake kid. His family was very involved in the
community. His dad actually taught me when I was in high school," said
Volunteer Manager at the American Legion Greg Weiss. "It's possible for
anybody. Regardless of your political beliefs, if Pete can do it from
Forest Lake, anybody can do it. It's not the president, but it's right
next to him."
In Washington, the reaction to choosing Hegseth has been a mix of shock
and surprise.
"He does not seem to have much of a detailed background in DOD policy,"
said Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, who is a ranking member of the armed
services committee. "The lack of experience is concerning."
Hegseth has pushed for making the military more lethal and said that
allowing women to serve in combat roles hurts that effort.
"Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation
more complicated, and complication in combat, means casualties are
worse," Hegseth said during an interview last week on "The Shawn Ryan
Show" podcast to promote his new book. "I'm straight up just saying that
we should not have women in combat roles it hasn't made us more
effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more
complicated."
While he said that diversity in the military is a strength, Hegseth also
said it was because minority and white men can perform similarly,
something he said isn't true for women.
By opening combat slots to women, "we've changed the standards in
putting them there, which means you've changed the capability of that
unit," Hegseth said in the podcast interview.
Since then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter opened all combat roles to women
in 2016, women have successfully passed the military's grueling tests to
become Green Berets and Army Rangers, and the Naval Special Warfare's
test to serve as a combatant-craft crewman the boat operators who
transport Navy SEALs and conduct their own classified missions at sea.
In 2019, Hegseth urged Trump to pardon U.S. service members who had been
accused of war crimes. He advocated for the servicemen's cases on his
show and online, interviewing relatives on Fox News. He posted on social
media that pardons from Trump "would be amazing," and added hashtags
with the names of those accused to reporting mentioning his private
lobbying of the then-president.
The effort was successful, with Trump that year pardoning a former U.S.
Army commando set to stand trial in the killing of a suspected Afghan
bomb-maker, as well as a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for
ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans, killing two. Trump also
ordered a promotion for a decorated Navy SEAL convicted of posing with a
dead Islamic State captive in Iraq.
As Trump formulated his first Cabinet following his 2016 win, he
reportedly considered Hegseth to run the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He again considered Hegseth when Secretary David Shulkin faced criticism
before his ouster in 2018.
Co-host of Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends Weekend," Hegseth has been
a contributor to the network for a decade. He developed a friendship
with Trump through the president-elect's regular appearances on the
show. In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson complimented Hegseth's
military knowledge, saying his "insights and analysis especially about
the military resonated deeply with our viewers."
He's also written a number of books, several for the network's
publishing imprint, including "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal
of the Men Who Keep Us Free." In announcing Hegseth as his pick, Trump
complimented that book, noting its "nine weeks on the New York Times
best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE."
Hegseth would lead the Pentagon with burgeoning conflicts on multiple
fronts, including Russia's war in Ukraine, the ongoing attacks in the
Middle East by Iranian proxies, the push for a cease-fire between Israel
and Hamas and Hezbollah, and escalating worries about the growing
alliance between Russia and North Korea.
While the Pentagon is considered a key job in any administration,
defense secretary was a tumultuous post during Trump's first term. Five
men held the job during Trump's four years.
Trump's relationship with his civilian and military leaders during those
years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they
struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and
pronouncements that blindsided them with abrupt policy decisions they
weren't prepared to explain or defend.
Many of the generals who worked in his first administration both on
active duty and retired have slammed him as unfit to serve in the Oval
Office. He has condemned them in return.
The Senate will still need to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary.
--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.
The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.