Pete Hegseth’s nomination as Donald Trump’s secretary of defense has left many scratching their heads, trying to figure out what on earth qualifies the Fox & Friends host to lead the Pentagon and command 1.3 million active-duty troops.
While Hegseth does have military experience, previously serving as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay, he has nowhere near the expertise traditionally required for the role of Defense Department head.
For example, current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin served in the military for 41 years, holding several high-ranking positions as commanding general of U.S. forces in Iraq, the army’s vice chief of staff, and commander of U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for all military operations in the Middle East.
Hegseth’s lack of experience isn’t the only reason he would be considered unsuitable for the position. He recently claimed that his orders to guard Joe Biden’s inauguration were revoked after he was “deemed an extremist” due to a tattoo of a Jerusalem Cross on his chest.
Hegseth failed to mention that he also has a corresponding “Deus Volt” tattoo on his arm, a Latin phrase that means “God Wills It” and a white supremacist slogan. Twelve national guard members were reportedly removed from Biden’s inauguration detail after making extremist statements, and according to Hegseth’s own admission, he was one of them.
So it’s not surprising his appointment seems to have left many across the political spectrum unimpressed.
Former Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson seemed simply confused by her former colleague’s appointment.
“From silly diner interviews on Weekend Fox and Friends to Secretary of Defense? I never thought I’d say I’m stunned about any pick after the election but nominating Pete Hegseth for this incredibly important role? Yes he’s a veteran … and?” she wrote Tuesday in a post on X.
Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also aired her frustration with the appointment. “A Fox & Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense,” she wrote on X. “I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our servicemembers. Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected.”
Former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger put it bluntly. “Wow. Trump picking Pete Hegseth is the most hilariously predictably stupid thing,” he wrote on X.
Alyssa Farrah Griffin, a former Trump White House aide and current co-host on The View posted that she wasn’t concerned by his lack of military experience but his “lack of policy experience & a lack of Pentagon experience.”
“I’m for a disrupter at the Pentagon but you can’t disrupt an agency you’re not familiar with the inner workings of. The most likely outcome is he’ll be outmaneuvered at every turn by top Pentagon brass,” Griffin added in a separate post.
Upon hearing that Hegseth had been appointed, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, simply said, “Wow.”
In the end, it seems like the president-elect appointed Hegseth because he is a faithful Trump acolyte, and well, he’s on Trump’s favorite television network.
Eric Edelman, who previously served as the Pentagon’s top policy official under George Bush, told Politico that Trump “puts the highest value on loyalty.”
“It appears that one of the main criteria that’s being used is, how well do people defend Donald Trump on television?” Edelman said.
Kinzinger agreed. “Obviously it’s weird, and there’s only one reason he’s doing it, because he’s on Fox News, and you know, that’s what Donald Trump picks based on,” Kinzinger said on CNN Tuesday.