Adding to the avalanche of negative headlines he’s already attracted, Pete Hegseth has been dealt another blow in the form of a resurfaced video in which he criticizes Donald Trump.
The 2016 clip of Hegseth — who was nominated by Trump to be his cabinet’s Defence Secretary last month — has been doing the rounds on social media, and shows Hegseth trashing his potential boss with admirable savagery. “It’s typical Trump, all bluster, very little substance,” Hegseth said in the clip, which was taken from a segment on Fox News. He went on to describe Trump as an “armchair tough guy,” and criticized the president-elect’s stance on the military.
“I hate to say it, but this is a guy who said that John McCain is not a war hero, yet he sought his own five military deferments,” Hegseth added. Doing what it does best, the internet managed to dig up another instance of Hegseth attacking Trump, this time in a 2015 interview he did with Fox News. That clip sees the former Fox News presenter come after Trump’s affinity for television, telling viewers that “you wouldn’t want a top-tier presidential candidate getting all of their military advice from watching Meet the Press.”
He then said “foreign policy and national security is not about TV shows,” which is the political equivalent of calling Trump square-eyed. Of course, Hegseth is far from the only member of Trump’s group of loyalists who has trashed him in the past. While he now thinks of himself as Trump’s wife, vice president-elect JD Vance once said Trump was an “idiot” and “reprehensible,” before comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Flash-forward a couple of years and the pair are thick as thieves, such is the allure of a White House that probably has nicer couches to have his way with.
For his part, Marco Rubio — who is expected to be named Secretary of State — said in 2016 that Trump is “a con artist [who] will never get control of this party.” Regardless of whether he was the only one to attack Trump, Hegseth’s resurfaced comments do little to solidify his position as the Defence Secretary nominee, which is already on shaky ground amid allegations of sexual assault and reports of excessive drinking. Adding to the negative press that threatens Hegseth’s nomination is a 2018 email in which his mother, Penelope, says she had “no respect” for him.
With all that chaos, including these resurfaced comments, Trump is reportedly eyeing other candidates to replace Hegseth in the event his nomination falls through. The name reportedly on Trump’s mind is Ron DeSantis who, you guessed it, has made his own less than flattering comments about Trump in the past. While they were both on the campaign trail to become the Republican presidential nominee last year, DeSantis said Trump “set the stage for inflation,” that he was “missing in action” at the Republican presidential primary debate, and that he was a source of “daily drama” during his first term.
At this point, it really doesn’t matter what Trump’s cabinet picks have said about him in the past, because between Kristi Noem, RFK Jr., Elon Musk, and Linda McMahon, it’s bound to be a dumpster fire no matter who gets in. Having previously trashed Trump is a prerequisite that’s about as important as having not beheaded a whale.
Published: Dec 5, 2024 05:40 am