As we reported earlier, CNN's Scott Jennings says the Democrats sent their dumbest senators to confront Pete Hegseth Tuesday, and they didn't lay a glove on him. Hegseth was outstanding; I believe we might have a post coming featuring that video of Hegseth surrounded by four Democrat women all screeching at the same time. That's what he was up against, and he held his ground.
One thing Hegseth said that I thought was interesting was that he wanted to cut the fat at the top of the Defense Department bureaucracy and give the power back to the members of the military on the ground. He noted that we fought and won World War II with just seven four-star generals; now we have 44, and it's not like we won in Afghanistan.
From the context of the video, I don't understand where Independent Sen. Angus King was coming from when he assumed Hegseth was pro-torture and pro-waterboarding. (I'm not concerned if he is.) But Hegseth put the senators in their place, saying we have too many people in air-conditioned offices pointing the finger at people who do things that they'd never do.
🚨 HOLY CRAP. Pete Hegseth just delivered Democrats lecturing him on the Armed Service committee a truth nuke.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 14, 2025
"We have too many people here, in air conditioned officers that like to point fingers at the guys in dark and dangerous places, in helicopters in enemy territory - who… pic.twitter.com/KFxV3eqgwM
…who are doing things people in D.C. would NEVER dare to do."
Senator Angus King kept saying the Geneva Convention must be strictly followed every time, and Hegseth said war can be complicated.
PETE IS ON 🔥: "We have too many people here, in air-conditioned officers, that like to point fingers at the guys in dark and dangerous places who are doing things people in D.C. would NEVER dare to do."
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 14, 2025
pic.twitter.com/C1SKNkpzqk
Hegseth boasts a 20-year career in the military, In combat zones, not an office at the Pentagon. He knows what it's like to be a member of the military and knows the ripple effect poor leadership can have on the troops.
I’m tired of hearing about our service members being degraded. Pete is spot on with his assessment and I’m so glad that everyone in the room was made to listen to it.
— Gnomeo (@gnomeo5000brat) January 14, 2025
Pete Hegseth understands the fog of war. Politicians DO NOT.
— Mike (@PartayCaptain) January 14, 2025
This is exactly the guy we need.
— Rod D. Martin (@RodDMartin) January 14, 2025
That's what I was thinking.
I was also moved by Hegseth's testimony about how his orders to protect Joe Biden were revoked because he was labeled an "extremist" of his Jerusalem cross tattoo, the same cross that appeared on the cover of Jimmy Carter's funeral program and was inlaid on the floor of the National Cathedral beneath his casket.
Pete Hegseth describes how he was banned from serving with his National Guard unit for a tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross, the same Christian symbol that was on the floor of the National Cathedral during Jimmy Carter's funeral. pic.twitter.com/TGx51v7eEA
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 14, 2025
This reminded me of Talia Lavin, the former New Yorker fact-checker who smeared a disabled veteran and ICE employee for having a Nazi tattoo. Of course, she was rewarded with a new gig with Media Matters for America researching right-wing extremist groups.
Hegseth is just the person we need at the Defense Department.
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