{"id":1049740,"date":"2024-11-13T13:19:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T18:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1049740"},"modified":"2024-11-13T13:19:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T18:19:58","slug":"trump-taps-fox-host-pete-hegseth-for-dod-defender-of-va-privatization-predatory-for-profit-colleges-january-6-and-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-taps-fox-host-pete-hegseth-for-dod-defender-of-va-privatization-predatory-for-profit-colleges-january-6-and-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Taps Fox Host Pete Hegseth for DoD, Defender of VA Privatization, Predatory For-Profit Colleges, January 6 \u2013 and Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In response to Donald Trump tapping \u201cFox & Friends Weekend\u201d co-host Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense,<\/em> DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonald Trump should focus more on our military and less on Fox News. Pete Hegseth isn\u2019t just unfit \u2013 he\u2019s dangerous: hailing the January 6 insurrectionists as people who \u2018love freedom,\u2019 opposing women serving in combat roles, and even expressing support for war crimes. Trump\u2019s 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\u2019s obvious why Trump picked him after promising to turn the military against American citizens: Hegseth will always put defending Trump ahead of defending America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump just announced that he\u2019s picking \u201cFox & Friends Weekend\u201d 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 \u201cwe should not have women in combat roles.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA Today<\/a>: \u201cTrump taps conservative media pundit Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Rupar<\/a>: \u201cPete Hegseth 5 days ago: \u2018I\u2019m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media Matters<\/a>: \u201cFox\u2019s Pete Hegseth, Brian Kilmeade criticize American veterans who apply for every government benefit they qualify for\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolling Stone<\/a>: \u201cFox News Host Is All-in on Trump\u2019s War Crimes Threats\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media Matters<\/a>: \u201cFox\u2019s Pete Hegseth has been repeatedly advocating for looser accountability for war crimes as Trump prepares to pardon convicted war criminals\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cHaving 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.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press<\/a>: \u201cIn 2019, Hegseth urged Trump to pardon U.S. service members who had been accused of war crimes.<\/strong> He advocated for the servicemen\u2019s cases on his show and online, interviewing relatives on Fox News. He posted on social media that pardons from Trump \u2018would be amazing,\u2019 and added hashtags with the names of those accused.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Beast<\/a>: \u201cFox News Host: Conservatives Feel Putin\u2019s Invasion \u2018Pales in Comparison\u2019 to \u2018Wokeness\u2019 in America\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ProPublica<\/a>: \u201cFor-Profit Colleges Tap a Fox News Host to Influence Trump\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HuffPost<\/a>: \u201cThe 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 \u2018loved freedom.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Beast<\/a>: \u201cTucker Carlson and Pete Hegseth Try to Bring \u2018Kung Flu\u2019 Back\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air & Space Forces Magazine<\/a>: \u201cHegseth 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REMINDER: Trump has repeatedly disparaged our military: He\u2019s called veterans \u201csuckers\u201d and \u201closers,\u201d and attacked military leaders as \u201cdopes and babies.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Atlantic<\/a>: \u201cTrump 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump said, \u2018Why should I go to that cemetery? It\u2019s filled with losers.\u2019 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 \u2018suckers\u2019 for getting killed.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cMoreover, people familiar with Mr. Trump\u2019s private conversations say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it<\/strong>, 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.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cTrump unleashed his disdain, calling Afghanistan a \u2018loser war.\u2019<\/strong> 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\u2019s commands, and here he was calling the war they had been fighting a loser war. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018You\u2019re all losers,\u2019 Trump said. \u2018You don\u2019t know how to win anymore.\u2019 \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Trump\u2019s comments] stunned nearly everyone in the room, and some vowed that they would never repeat them. Indeed, they have not been reported until now. \u2018I wouldn\u2019t go to war with you people,\u2019 Trump told the assembled brass. Addressing the room, the commander in chief barked, \u2018You\u2019re a bunch of dopes and babies.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hill<\/a>: \u201cPresident Trump on Wednesday minimized the injuries of several U.S. service members who suffered concussions during an Iranian missile attack<\/strong> on two Iraqi bases that house American personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to Donald Trump tapping \u201cFox & Friends Weekend\u201d co-host Pete Hegseth to lead the U.S. Department of Defense, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: \u201cDonald Trump should focus more on our military and less on Fox News. Pete Hegseth isn\u2019t just unfit \u2013 he\u2019s dangerous: hailing the January 6 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1049740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Taps Fox Host Pete Hegseth for DoD, Defender of VA Privatization, Predatory For-Profit Colleges, January 6 \u2013 and Trump - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-taps-fox-host-pete-hegseth-for-dod-defender-of-va-privatization-predatory-for-profit-colleges-january-6-and-trump\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-13T18:19:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-13T18:19:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-taps-fox-host-pete-hegseth-for-dod-defender-of-va-privatization-predatory-for-profit-colleges-january-6-and-trump\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-taps-fox-host-pete-hegseth-for-dod-defender-of-va-privatization-predatory-for-profit-colleges-january-6-and-trump\/\",\"name\":\"Trump Taps Fox Host Pete Hegseth for DoD, Defender of VA Privatization, Predatory For-Profit Colleges, January 6 \u2013 and Trump - 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