President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, endured some hysterical screeching today from U.S. senators during his confirmation hearing. Facebook might have dropped PolitiFact from its censorship apparatus, prompting an emergency meeting of the International Fact-Checking Network. Seeing as NBC News' Katy Tur claimed that journalists are like firefighters running toward the flames, CNN's Brian Stelter posted that "Cutting fact-checkers from social platforms is like disbanding your fire department."
The New York Times assigned its national security reporter, Helene Cooper, to do a live "fact-check" of Hegseth's testimony Tuesday, and she seemed to focus on a certain aspect of Hegseth's remarks. Keep in mind that the keen-eyed linked Hegseth to the white supremacist movement because of his tattoo of a Jerusalem cross — the same Jerusalem cross that adorned the cover of Jimmy Carter's funeral program and appeared on the National Cathedral floor underneath his casket.
Here's some of Cooper's fact-checking:
Fact check! pic.twitter.com/VJRloeEV66
— Park MacDougald (@hpmcd1) January 14, 2025
In case that gets cut off, it reads:
Hegseth says troops will "rejoice" if the Pentagon gets rid of the "woke" agenda. Some 43 percent of the 1.3 million men and women on active duty in the United States military are people of color.
So she's saying that all people of color in the military are on board with the "woke" agenda?
These two sentences have nothing to do with each other.
— Small Gov Lizard (@smallgovlizard) January 14, 2025
And?
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) January 14, 2025
These two things are not exclusive of each other. Being "of color " (lol) doesn't equal woke. In fact I'd argue they're probably less woke on avg, than whites
— Ttom with 2 t's (@ttomcat22) January 14, 2025
You are not particularly bright.
— sebastian (@stoicsebastian) January 14, 2025
So that makes them woke?
— Sam Kirkland (@SamKirk8583) January 14, 2025
Are you assuming all people of color are woke? You seem racist and clearly don’t know what woke means
— Jodie (@Real_miss_Jodie) January 14, 2025
But wait! There's more.
Fact check! https://t.co/PqZBAaHV5i pic.twitter.com/wbY1N5zWZd
— Park MacDougald (@hpmcd1) January 14, 2025
Hegseth: "One of the least racist institutions in our country is the military." But until Lloyd Austin became secretary of defense in 2021, only white men led the Pentagon."
Everyone conveniently forgets about Colin Powell because he was a Republican.
— Summer (@SummerELight) January 14, 2025
None of these people know anything about good faith conversation. None of them.
May I introduce you to to Colin Powell Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff
— Jean Tuttle (@waffle721) January 14, 2025
That’s not the fact check you think it is. The SecDef is a political appointee. Military rank and file, up to and including the senior ranks are merit based and diverse in terms of racial make up.
— sg (@latteconsrtve) January 14, 2025
What an embarrassment. Thank you for highlighting what a toxic embarrassment the fact checkers are.
— Jake R. (@jaker1419) January 14, 2025
When the avg nyt journo says they just report the facts and don’t steer the narrative, this is what they mean
— GM (@GM_JDawg) January 14, 2025
Until Obama was elected, only while men were president. Until Colin Powell, only white men were Joint Chiefs Chairman. Until...we can play this game all day.
— Forbes Tuttle (@ForbesTutt10128) January 14, 2025
Proving what?? That only skin color matters?
There hasn't been a transgender secretary of defense yet … does that mean the military is transphobic, too? What's the point of these factoids? Well, we know what the point is. They can't help themselves.
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