Trump DefSec pick Pete Hegseth (Hint: He's not a nice guy. Nor competent for that office)

The Popular Information team of Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims have provided the following list of 13 helpful bullet points about Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. (1) And they provide additional details on each of them in their post. Including the tattoo photo shown below.

1. Hegseth says women should not be in combat roles
2. Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of rape to sign an NDA
3. Hegseth published a column in college that claimed having sex with an unconscious woman is not rape
4. Hegseth is a serial philanderer, making him a target for blackmail
5. Hegseth criticized injured veterans who receive government assistance
6. Hegseth praised [the torture technique of] “waterboarding," blasted the Geneva Conventions
7. Hegseth dismissed moral concerns about the use of nuclear weapons
8. Hegseth pushed Trump to pardon service members convicted of war crimes
9. Hegseth said the United Nations should be shut down
10. Hegseth has a tattoo associated with white nationalists
11. Hegseth is a member of a Christian supremacist church
12. Hegseth said rising Muslim birth rates were causing "a slow motion 9/11"
13. Hegseth promoted editorial comparing same-sex marriage to bestiality 

Hegseth's tattoo:

One of his quirky positions is to rename the Defence Department:

He has ... reportedly called for the Defence Department to be renamed the War Department and for a 10-year ban on generals working as defence contractors after leaving the military.

Those views have earned Hegseth many conservative fans, particularly those close to the president-elect. But some also question whether he is capable of running an agency that is considered one of the world's largest bureaucracies, with a budget of nearly $900bn (£708bn). (2)

Actually, the idea of banning former generals from working as lobbyists or defense contractors within 10 years of leaving their general’s post is not a bad idea. I very much doubt he’s serious about it though. This is the kind of extra slogans conservatives like to toss out when they want to sound a bit populist. Most of them never mean it. And it’s hard to imagine Hegseth does, either.

Also, from 1789 to 1949, that Department was named the War Department. “Defense Department” sounds a bit nobler. Whether its truth-in-advertising value was enhanced by the name change is another question.

His position on Ukraine sounds a bit mugwumpy. But nobody knows what Trump’s actual policy on Ukraine is, probably Trump himself least of all. Whatever Trump does on the Russia-Ukraine War would require some very complicated diplomacy tobe effective. A dogmatic rightwinger like Hegseth with zero experience in either senior management of a large organization or any “diplomacy” beyond repeating rightwing slogans isn’t likely to add much to such a messy diplomatic undertaking.

Notes:

(1) 13 things everyone should know about Pete Hegseth. Popular Information (Substack) 11/18/2024. <https://popular.info/p/13-things-everyone-should-know-about> (Accessed: 2024-18-1024. The bullet-points displayed are exact quotes.

(2) McCausland, Phil & Halpert, Madeline (2024): Trump's 'anti-woke' defence pick surprises Washington - here's why. BBC News 11/13/2024. <https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04lvv6ee3lo> (Accessed: 2024-18-1024).

(3) Borger, Julian (2024): Pentagon stunned after Trump picks Pete Hegseth for defence secretary. The Guardian 11/13/2024 <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/13/pentagon-stunned-after-trump-picks-pete-hegseth-for-defence-secretary> (Accessed: 2024-18-1024).

(4) Samuels, Ben (2024): Only Netanyahu Could Have Chosen a Cushier Trump Foreign Policy Team. Haaretz 11/13/2024. <https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-11-13/ty-article/.premium/only-netanyahu-could-have-chosen-a-cushier-trump-foreign-policy-team/00000193-25c9-d76b-afd7-a7d9336d0001?gift=57e086ba810440aa858c649c6f9e84ea> (Accessed: 2024-18-1024).

(5) Butler, Kiera (2024): Trump’s Defense Secretary Pick Hopes for a Christian Crusade. Mother Jones 11/15/2024. <https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/11/trump-peter-hegseth-defense-secretary-pick-theobros-hopes-for-a-christian-crusade/> (Accessed: 2024-18-1024).