Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to steer the Pentagon, praised ladies within the army as a few of the “biggest warriors” after critics took challenge with feedback he made about ladies not being match to serve in fight roles.
“I additionally need a chance right here to make clear feedback which were misconstrued, that I in some way do not assist ladies within the army, a few of our biggest warriors, our greatest warriors on the market are ladies,” he instructed Fox Information’ Sean Hannity on Monday.
Feminine service members “love our nation, wish to defend that flag, they usually do it each single day across the globe. I am not presuming something,” he added.
“However after President Trump requested me to be his Secretary of Protection, ought to I get the chance to try this, I look ahead to being a secretary for all our warriors, women and men, for the wonderful contributions they make in our army.”
Secretary of Protection nominee Pete Hegseth joins Fox Information’ Sean Hannity. (Fox Information)
Hegseth will spend this week assembly with senators on Capitol Hill to court docket the 50 votes he must safe the Cupboard degree place.
AFTER SECOND MEETING WITH HEGSETH, ERNST HINTS AT WHETHER SHE WILL OR WON’T SUPPORT CONFIRMATION
In a November 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired mere days earlier than Hegseth, a former Fox Information worker, was tapped to function Protection Secretary, the nominee mentioned: “I’m straight up simply saying we must always not have ladies in fight roles.”
Hegseth asserted that ladies serving in fight roles “hasn’t made us more practical, hasn’t made us extra deadly” and “has made combating extra sophisticated.”
Hegseth famous that he was not essentially advocating for making the change proper now, commenting; “Think about the demagoguery in Washington, D.C., if you happen to had been really making the case for, you understand, ‘We should always reduce ladies in fight.’”
Hegseth is attending conferences on Capitol Hill with senators whose vote he must be confirmed (Anna Moneymaker)
“Because the disclaimer for everyone on the market,” he added, “we’ve all served with ladies they usually’re nice, it’s simply our establishments don’t must incentivize that in locations the place … over human historical past, males are extra succesful.”
TRUMP RALLIES BEHIND HEGSETH BUT INVITES DESANTIS TO ARMY-NAVY GAME
He mentioned, “I really like ladies service members who contribute amazingly,” however asserted that “all the things about ladies serving collectively makes the state of affairs extra sophisticated and complication in fight means casualties are worse.”
He additionally criticized the higher echelons of army management for altering requirements and prioritizing filling range quotas above fight effectiveness. He pointed to a 2015 research by the Marine Corps that discovered that built-in male-female models did “drastically worse” by way of fight effectiveness than all-male models.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be protection secretary, left, joined by his spouse Jennifer Hegseth, attends a gathering with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Providers Committee, on the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photograph/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP )
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“Between bone density and lung capability and muscle power, women and men are simply completely different,” he mentioned. “So, I’m comfortable with if you happen to keep the requirements simply the place they’re for everyone, and if there’s some, you understand, hard-charging feminine that meets that normal, nice, cool, be part of the infantry battalion. However that isn’t what’s occurred. What has occurred is the requirements have lowered.”
