Trump taps Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

11/12/24 7:22 PM ET


President-elect Trump on Tuesday announced he was choosing Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran and a Fox News host, to serve as Defense secretary.

Hegseth served as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, earning two Bronze Stars. He is currently a co-host for “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

“Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement.

The president-elect also used his statement to promote Hegseth’s new book, as well as his work with veterans advocacy groups.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4987358-pete-hegseth-defense-secretary/

[BOSSHOG]

1. According to the coward

Our Military is not great and has backed down in the past? Our military only backs down at the direction of civilian “leadership.” A true believer in America First is a disaster at DOD.

[Marcuse]

2. He won't last a year. Neither will Marco. They will become "low IQ, dumb as rocks" etc. We've seen this movie before.

[Polybius]

3. Who?

[HereForTheParty]

4. WTF? Doesn't sound remotely qualified

Wait, that makes him perfect.

[Calista241]

5. His main job, apparently, is to fire a shitload of people. N/t

[Mr.Bee]

6. See? There is a payback for those who are nice to Darn Old Trumpf

I wonder what he's going to give ailing cannon.

[Pas-de-Calais]

7. Writing a book

Immediately makes someone a Secretary of Defense

SO tired of these maga comments

[bucolic_frolic]

8. This is like nominating a floor supervisor as CEO of a multinational conglomerate

US military is a sprawling operation. Complex. It takes knowledge and experience to manage it.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

9. A National Guard Captain?

My understanding of the Army tells me that a Captain is a rank that operates almost entirely at the tactical level, with limited responsibility of commanding relatively small units (Company/Battery) or serving as staff officers at somewhat larger units.

This does not prepare someone for managing the DoD as a whole while offering strategic vision and leadership.

On the other hand, 6 of 21 SecDefs have never been in the military and many others had limited and/or low-level military experience - Leon Panetta, for instance, mustered out as a First Lieutenant [source].

It is the civilian experience in government and/or industry that makes or breaks most SecDefs and Trump's pick seems even more lacking in that than in military qualifications.

Resume -
- Equity capital markets analyst
- Conservative policy wonk
- PAC/Advocacy group director
- Media pundit

Not quite comparable to Panetta or Gates or ... really anyone that has held the job.

Perhaps we can hope that his name is being floated so that when Trump names his actual pick everyone can say "at least s/he is not as bad as Hegseth!"

One can only hope/dread.