A man was carried out of Pete Hegseth’s Senate confirmation hearing after cutting off Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, screaming, “You are a misogynist!”
The former Fox News anchor and Army National Guard combat veteran testified in front of the Senate in an explosive hearing that rehashed some of the foul allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking that loomed over his appointment to the role.
The protester made his grand statement as Hegseth railed against the “liberal,” “left-wing” media, which he blamed for his woes. When questioned about the sexual assault allegations and his alleged alcoholism, he simply stated he was “willing to endure these attacks” as he vehemently denied them.
After the initial outburst, two other protesters were carried out of the chamber of similar discretions. Videos and photos shot from within the chamber show the chaos unfolding as security wrestles the hecklers, carrying them out the back.
The third protester fought violently as he was carried out, with a video showing him being carried by about four cops, who held his legs and arms as he flailed about in their arms.
Hegseth appeared stoic as the protesters were carried out, his face full of annoyance as he managed to keep his cool while speaking. He paused, looked as though he was about to roll his eyes — but didn’t — and then continued speaking after each incident.
Reed: “You are the ninth nominee for secretary of defense that I have had the honor to consider. I have voted in favor of all your predecessors, including those in the first Trump administration. Unfortunately, you lack the character, composure, & competence to hold the position” pic.twitter.com/CXWxt1iWvO
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2025
The rest of the hearing was littered with jabs by Hegseth at the Democratic senators questioning him as well as snarky remarks aimed at Republicans who opposed his appointment.
In one tense exchange with Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Hegseth demeaned the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee when the Democrat asked if Hegseth could explain what a JAG office was.
“Can you explain what a JAG office is, sir?” Reed asked. “I don’t think I need to,” Hegseth snarkily replied. He explained that he believes “the men and women watching understand.” He then defined a JAG as a person “who puts his or her own priorities in front of the warfighters.”
A JAG officer, or judge advocate general, is a military lawyer. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) served as a JAG previously and initially expressed concerns about Hegseth’s appointment before ultimately stating that he would support him. Graham is not on the committee.
Both Reed and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) pressed Hegseth on his previous statements about diversity bringing down the effectiveness of the military, including his previous statement that women should not serve in active combat roles or be able to rise through the ranks.
Shaheen noted Hegseth’s previous public statement, in which he said, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.” She then called him out for being wishy-washy, demanding, “Which is it?” She then snarkily added, “I appreciate your 11th-hour conversion.”
The Democrat submitted for the record a chapter of his book that outlines his opposition to women in combat, asking him whether he thought the two female senators who served in the military are also less capable.
Firebrand Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) then launched into a tirade against those very statements as she questioned him on his views on women in general. “You will have to change how you see women to do this job well,” Gillibrand said, adding that his quotes about women are terrible and harmful to morale.
Hegseth fought back on all the accusations against him that he views women and minorities as inferior, including LGBTQ+ individuals, who he has previously said should not be allowed to serve in the military. He then reiterated that claim, reverting to his original belief that LGBTQ+ people should not be allowed to openly serve as he said, “I don’t disagree with the overturn of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.'”
He later said, “The dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our unity is our strength.’ No, our shared purpose is our strength. Our shared mission is our strength.”
He also stated that he has always supported women, arguing with Gillibrand about his views as he said that the women he served with in active combat during his two tours to Iraq and Afghanistan were some of the most qualified individuals he’s ever worked with. His comments came in direct contradiction with previous on-the-record statements.
Nearly all of the women on the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned his beliefs about women as they submitted document after document to the record attesting to his misogyny and how it could be harmful for military operations should he take over the Department of Defense.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) slammed Hegseth for allegedly drinking on the job while he worked with the veterans’ organizations he used to head, which he slammed as a fabricated story by NBC News as he dodged every one of the senator’s questions, which also touched on President-elect Trump’s plans to take over Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal, refusing to speak about such plans in public when she asked if he would comply with Trump’s orders to invade if he gave them.
She also asked if he would approve orders to shoot protesters in the legs if given them, which has been a controversial topic circulating in the political arena as of late. She asked if he would resign if he drank on the job and if he would allow women in the military to access reproductive healthcare.
Hegseth refused to answer every question, and Hirono took his lack of straightforwardness as negative answers to her questions — meaning that he would invade Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal if ordered, he would block women from accessing reproductive healthcare and that he would not resign if called to if he were to be found drinking on the job.
“I hardly think you are prepared to do the job,” Hirono concluded. Hegseth attempted to respond, but Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) cut him off, simply stating, “That wasn’t a question, Mr. Hegseth.”
After multiple senators’ questions and tirades against Hegseth, Wicker entered into the record statements and endorsements from over five women who served in the military who support Hegseth’s nomination.
Wicker also denied a motion from Reed to block the release of the FBI report detailing the findings from an extensive background check on Hegseth as he also blocked a motion, also from Reed, to allow senators a second round of questioning — a typical, traditional motion in hearings of this nature.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) later blasted Hegseth for his severe “about-face” about women being involved in the military, stating that he espoused his extreme anti-women beliefs for at least 12 years before the nomination, then changed his views in just 32 days, hinting that his change might just be a ploy for power and that he’ll revert to his old ways the second he’s in office.
She also asked if he would resign and not work in the defense industry for a decade after his tenure as secretary of defense, a policy both she and Hegseth share as they say generals should be barred from the industry for 10 years after they leave the military. He snarkily quipped, “Senator, I’m not a general.” That garnered chuckles from around the chamber.
She and several other Democratic senators expressed frustrations over Hegseth’s refusal to meet with them ahead of the hearing. He met with Republican members of the committee but not any of the Democrats.
Many senators also questioned Hegseth’s budget plans for the department, emphasizing his role in overseeing the $850 billion allotment. His answers throughout that line of questioning and all others were vague as he dodged inquiries.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) railed against the alleged fiscal misconduct carried out by Hegseth while he managed Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
Of the former organization, Hegseth said defensively, “We raised donor funds, and we have letters submitted for the record from almost everyone that worked with me every single day, including our chief operating officer, who will attest that every dollar we raised was used intentionally toward the execution of our mission, which is supporting the warfighters.”
Blumenthal responded, “By the year of 2011, donors had become so dissatisfied with that mismanagement, they in effect, ousted you.” He then went on to detail the financial shortfalls Concerned Veterans for America faced as well. “That isn’t the kind of fiscal management we want at the Department of Defense,” Blumenthal stated.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) slammed Hegseth for his lack of managerial skills, harping on the fact that he had only managed around 200 people before. The Department of Defense boasts over 3 million personnel.
“What’s the largest number of people you’ve ever supervised or had in an organization in your career?” Peters pressed. Hegseth sardonically replied, “Not 3 million.”
“No, I don’t expect that,” Peters responded, pressing once more: “Very few people have ever had that experience, but how many? It’s a straight-up question.”
Hegseth finally admitted that he managed around 100 full-time staff at Concerned Veterans for America. He was also a headquarters company commander, he said, where he was tasked with managing around 200 people.
He admitted that he had no experience managing anything “remotely near the size of the defense department.” That admission served as the green light for Peters, who laid into the nominee’s lack of large managerial experience.
“You’re actually not remotely near even a medium-sized company in America, let alone a big company in America, especially a major corporation. And basically, we’re hiring you to be the CEO of one of the most complex, largest organizations in the world,” Peters said.
“We’re the board of directors here. I don’t know of any board of directors that would hire a CEO for a major company if they came and said, ‘You know, I supervised 100 people before,'” Peters concluded.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) later got into a loud spat with Hegseth over his refusal to answer questions related to his qualifications, including one she lobbied at him about ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. She asked him how many nations were a part of that bloc, and he listed South Korea and Japan after dodging the question — two countries that aren’t a part of it.
“Mr. Hegseth, none of those countries are in ASEAN,” Duckworth said. “None of those three countries that you’ve mentioned are in ASEAN. I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations.” Member nations include Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei.
One of the last people to speak at the hearing was Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who called out Hegseth for his beliefs surrounding veterans he believes are misusing their benefits. He skirted questions about veterans’ mental health and the importance of getting ahead of it.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) took a different approach with his line of questioning earlier in the hearing, asking Hegseth whether he would tackle the “woke” agenda of President Joe Biden over the past four years that he said has ruined the military. After launching into an openly transphobic tirade, he stated, “The other thing President Biden did — his first executive order as president was to focus on transgender surgeries for active-duty troops.”
“This is all — I’m describing the woke military here under Biden under the last four years. If confirmed and you were issued an order saying, ‘We are going to rip the Biden woke yoke off the neck of our military and focus on lethality and warfighting,’ how do you think the troops will react?” he asked Hegseth.
“Senator, I know the troops will rejoice. They will love it. They will love it,” Hegseth responded animatedly. “Our military will follow that order, senator, gladly, because they want to focus on lethality and warfighting and get all the woke political prerogatives, politically correct, social justice, political stuff out of the military.”
The mic was at one point passed to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who delivered perhaps the greatest bombshell of the hearing, accusing Hegseth of beating his wife and ex-wives as he also discussed accusations that Hegseth had taken previous coworkers to clubs to see strippers, yelling at one party, “Kill all Muslims!”
“Senator, I was falsely charged, fully investigated and completely cleared,” Hegseth said in response to the sexual assault accusation, which sprung up in 2017.
Kaine responded, “So you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime. That’s your definition of cleared. You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would stand here and say you’re completely cleared.”
Source : https://www.themirror.com/news/politics/breaking-pete-hegseth-confirmation-hearing-909064
