Not even Hegseth’s own military respects him
Military leaders speak out against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, panning widely mocked speech delivered to a captive audience of senior military brass last month.
The conservative Washington Times, which has consistently supported President Donald Trump and supported Republican and far-right causes, generally does not publish anything unflattering to the right — until Hegseth.
“It was a huge waste of time. … If he ever had us, he would lose us,” a current Army general told the outlet.
Speaking about Hegseth’s leadership style, a senior officer explained: “Most of the time what I see from him is not serious stuff. It’s, ‘Why did this soldier tweet that?’ Or domestic politics and drama. That’s mostly what I see.
Sources also told the Times that they believe Hegseth is “simultaneously causing profound damage to the military, both from a public relations perspective and structurally behind the scenes, that may not be fully visible for months or even years.”
Another officer criticized Hegseth, who has been a host on Fox News, for “the theatrics of all this” since he took office, saying his speech was “announced on stage in public in this grandiose way.”
During the September 30 speech, Hegseth called on military leaders to abandon their traditional code of ethics, which he called “stupid rules of engagement.”
Instead of adhering to decades-old military codes to reduce violence and casualties, Hegseth said “fighters” should focus on tactics that would “intimidate, demoralize, drive out and kill our country’s enemies.”
Taxpayers were forced to foot the bill for the speech – for which Hegseth ordered the generals to travel to Washington – instead of using the Pentagon’s existing communications infrastructure.
The speech was also criticized by female veterans, including members of Congress, for his bigoted remarks about women in the armed forces.
But the Times’ extraordinarily frank comments represent another controversy in Hegseth’s difficult tenure as head of the military. He started under a cloud of allegations of financial irregularities and sexual assault, as well as concerns about her qualifications – or lack thereof – which simply arose during frequent appearances on Fox.
In addition to carrying out Trump’s agenda to purge the military of all references to racial and gender diversity, Hegseth recently seen the departure of several military officials, most recently Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of the United States Southern Command.
At the same time, the administration has been criticized for military strikes in South America, allegedly targeting drug traffickers, but without any independent verification or congressional oversight.
Before that, several journalists, notably those from conservative media,came out in protest new rules that required their reports to be pre-approved by Hegseth. Even reporters at Hegseth’s former employer, Fox News, expressed concerns on restrictions.
Hegseth was also infamous involved in a leak military plans to a reporter during a Signal group chat, and he has since focused on hounding his own staff for comments critical of deceased bigot Charlie Kirk.
Hegseth and Trump I tried This involves renaming the Department of Defense the War Department, but an actual name change requires congressional action. So even though he still oversees the Department of Defense, those under him seem to have had enough of his bullshit.
