The Atlantic staff writer Jonathan Chait claimed on “Morning Joe” Tuesday that defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is “enthusiastic” about using the military on peaceful American liberals he allegedly deems as “foreign enemies.”
Chait argued in his recent column that Hegseth is the most dangerous of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks because he is supposedly fully prepared to carry out Trump’s alleged wishes to use the military for solely political purposes. Chait argued that Hegseth is “the embodiment” of the president-elect’s alleged wish of having a defense secretary who uses violence against peaceful protesters.
“What makes [Hegseth] so dangerous is that he’s the embodiment of Donald Trump’s unfulfilled first term ambition of having a defense secretary who’s willing to use American troops to employ violence against peaceful protesters,” Chait said. “Trump demanded this of his defense secretaries during his first term, and they refused based on principle. But Hegseth is obviously very enthusiastic about this goal and broadly shares Trump’s worldview toward the American left, which he just regards as indistinguishable from foreign enemies.”
Trump stated in June 2020 that he would deploy “all available resources,” including members of the military, to tackle the violent riots roaming across Washington D.C. and other major cities in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. The then-president urged governors across the U.S. to deploy the National Guard to counter the rioters, looters and lawlessness dominating the streets.
The now-president-elect said during a Fox News interview in October that it could be necessary to use the National Guard or military to stop “outside agitators” who cause violence in the streets on Election Day. Democrats and the liberal media previously accused Trump of wanting to use the military to arrest political opponents he viewed as an “enemy from within,” including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff.
Hegseth served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge in recognition of his service, according to his personal website. He served as the head of the Concerned Veterans for America and has written several books detailing his views on the flaws within the military.
Trump intends to fire “woke” Pentagon officials, slash funding, decrease the number of generals and roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts to recruit more women and transgender soldiers. The America First Policy Institute, a think tank aligned with Trump, released an outline to “eliminate non-military issues such as climate change and democracy promotion from military doctrine and defense policies.”
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