On Tuesday, Donald Trump announced that he had picked Pete Hegseth to be his secretary of Defense, and, as you could have guessed, the left is flipping out about it.
"A 'Fox & Friends' weekend co-host is not qualified to be the secretary of Defense," whined Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). "I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our service members. Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected."
CNN reacted to the news Tuesday evening. Commentators on the panel discussed Hegseth’s public stance against women in combat roles and his influence on Trump’s decision to pardon Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, making him a contentious pick.
Political analyst Carl Bernstein argued that Trump's choice of Hegseth for Defense secretary and other selections he’s made so far indicate his strategy to dismantle liberal policies dating back to the New Deal. He suggested that Trump’s picks reflect a larger ideological shift emphasizing loyalty to his vision.
“We are in a new place, but it is a deadly, serious place. And all of these appointments fit together in terms of undoing this legacy that goes back to Roosevelt,” Bernstein said.
Scott Jennings mounted a robust defense of Pete Hegseth’s selection to lead the Pentagon, challenging critics who dismiss the pick due to Hegseth’s lack of Washington experience.
Jennings questioned the credibility of current Pentagon leadership, bluntly asking, “Does anyone have confidence in the current leadership of the Pentagon and the way the defense situation has been operating for the last several years?" he asked. “I mean, from the Afghanistan pullout, which was an extreme debacle for which no one was held accountable.... we've had spy balloons flying over the United States. We built a $300 million pier as a public relations stunt, which wound up killing an American service member.”
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“I'd say I've had just about enough of the so-called insiders running the Defense Department. I think we ought to give Pete Hegseth a chance,” he said before Bernstein interrupted him.
Of course, Jennings wasn’t done. “All the criticism of him is that he’s not the expected Washington pick. And I’m just saying … the American people just voted against the expected Washington pick.”
He argued it’s time to give Hegseth a shot, pointing to his twenty years of service in both Iraq and Afghanistan, his two Bronze Stars, and his education at Princeton and Harvard. “Yes, he's on TV, but so were the rest of us,” he pointed out. “And I think he ought to be given a chance.”
When Abby Phillip pushed back, noting that many of the recent defense mishaps came from civilian rather than military decisions, Jennings countered by saying, “The civilian leadership made decisions, and then the people they put in charge of the Pentagon carried it out, and it was all pretty much a disaster.” He added that the new administration’s choice to appoint “non-insiders” is a direct response to these failures, underscoring that while Hegseth would still have to “prove his knowledge of how to do this job” to Senate Republicans, “we ought to give this man a chance.”
HOLY SMOKES: @ScottJenningsKY just went scorched earth on Carl Bernstein and CNN panel defending Pete Hegseth —
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) November 13, 2024
— while excoriating current Pentagon leadership over their disastrous record.
🔥🔥🔥
“Does anyone have confidence in the current leadership of the Pentagon? And the… pic.twitter.com/dEs315grh4
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