Trump Taps Fox Host Pete Hegseth for DoD, Defender of VA Privatization, Predatory For-Profit Colleges, January 6 – and Trump Arrow

In response to Donald Trump tapping "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:

"Donald Trump should focus more on our military and less on Fox News. Pete Hegseth isn't just unfit - he's dangerous: hailing the January 6 insurrectionists as people who 'love freedom,' opposing women serving in combat roles, and even expressing support for war crimes. Trump's pick to lead our Department of Defense wants to scam our veterans out of their benefits, privatize their health care, and allow predatory for-profit colleges to prey on them without consequence. It's obvious why Trump picked him after promising to turn the military against American citizens: Hegseth will always put defending Trump ahead of defending America."

Donald Trump just announced that he's picking "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Pete Hegseth to be the United States Secretary of Defense. Hegseth has criticized veterans for applying for earned benefits, advocated for privatizing VA health care, defended those accused of war crimes, helped the for-profit college industry exploit veterans, and said "we should not have women in combat roles."

USA Today: "Trump taps conservative media pundit Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary"

Aaron Rupar: "Pete Hegseth 5 days ago: 'I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.'"

Media Matters: "Fox's Pete Hegseth, Brian Kilmeade criticize American veterans who apply for every government benefit they qualify for"

Rolling Stone: "Fox News Host Is All-in on Trump's War Crimes Threats"

Media Matters: "Fox's Pete Hegseth has been repeatedly advocating for looser accountability for war crimes as Trump prepares to pardon convicted war criminals"

New York Times: "Having been successful in the Gallagher case, Mr. Hegseth has now taken up the cause of winning pardons for the Blackwater security contractors who were found guilty in the 2007 shooting of dozens of unarmed Iraqis in Baghdad."

Associated Press: "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."

Daily Beast: "Fox News Host: Conservatives Feel Putin's Invasion 'Pales in Comparison' to 'Wokeness' in America"

ProPublica: "For-Profit Colleges Tap a Fox News Host to Influence Trump"

HuffPost: "The television personality has been a vocal Trump supporter and defended the people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying that the crowd seeking to overturn the 2020 election results just 'loved freedom.'"

Daily Beast: "Tucker Carlson and Pete Hegseth Try to Bring 'Kung Flu' Back"

Air & Space Forces Magazine: "Hegseth worked for a number of conservative groups, including Vets for Freedom and the conservative-backed Concerned Veterans for America, which pushed for privatization of many Department of Veterans Affairs functions."

REMINDER: Trump has repeatedly disparaged our military: He's called veterans "suckers" and "losers," and attacked military leaders as "dopes and babies."

The Atlantic: "Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead.

"Trump said, 'Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers.' In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as 'suckers' for getting killed."

New York Times: "Moreover, people familiar with Mr. Trump's private conversations say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it, as he did through a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels. At other times, according to those familiar with the remarks, Mr. Trump has expressed bewilderment that people choose military service over making money."

Washington Post: "Trump unleashed his disdain, calling Afghanistan a 'loser war.' That phrase hung in the air and disgusted not only the military leaders at the table but also the men and women in uniform sitting along the back wall behind their principals. They all were sworn to obey their commander in chief's commands, and here he was calling the war they had been fighting a loser war.

'You're all losers,' Trump said. 'You don't know how to win anymore.' …

"[Trump's comments] stunned nearly everyone in the room, and some vowed that they would never repeat them. Indeed, they have not been reported until now. 'I wouldn't go to war with you people,' Trump told the assembled brass. Addressing the room, the commander in chief barked, 'You're a bunch of dopes and babies.'"

The Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday minimized the injuries of several U.S. service members who suffered concussions during an Iranian missile attack on two Iraqi bases that house American personnel."

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