Wide Praise For Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth
The following comes from the Trump Team.
Secretary of Defense-designate Pete Hegseth is earning wide praise after his appearance before the Senate Committee on Armed Services today.
Here’s what they’re saying:
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- Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS): “I think it was a magnificent display of his knowledge and his ability to communicate — his leadership abilities — and I feel very good about this hearing today. I don’t think it could have gone any better.”
- Senator John Barrasso (R-WY): “Pete Hegseth did a fantastic job during his hearing today. He has my support for Secretary of Defense.”
- Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS): “.@PeteHegseth is qualified and strong and will focus on our military’s lethality and recruiting efforts. Let’s get him confirmed.“
- Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL): “Pete Hegseth is a 20-year combat veteran who earned two bronze stars and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I can’t think of a better person to represent our 1.3 million+ active military personnel.”
- Senator Mike Lee (R-UT): “.@PeteHegseth = what DOD needs“
- Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND): “Mr. Hegseth is not the extremist. The people who would deny him an expression of faith are the extremists. They’re the racists. They’re the bigots. @PeteHegseth is the one who’s protecting their right to be one. Thank you for that.”
- Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK): “From day one, the Biden administration played up a false and insulting narrative that our military—one of the greatest civil rights organizations in U.S. history—is chock-full of racists and extremists. Today, @PeteHegseth committed to defending, not denigrating, our troops.”
- Senator Rick Scott (R-FL): “I have the utmost confidence in @PeteHegseth’s ability to lead our Department of Defense. He has the right motives, the right qualifications, and the right agenda. I will be voting YES on his confirmation.”
- Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK): “Decorated combat vet @PeteHegseth was extremely impressive today. I’m not just voting YES, I’ll fight to get his nomination across the finish line.”
- Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): “Pete Hegseth has been subject to an onslaught of unwarranted and unsubstantiated attacks. I am honored to stand by him and support his nomination.”
- Senator Jim Banks (R-IN): “.@PeteHegseth is knocking this out of the park so far and Democrats are having a hard time challenging him. Pete is going to be a great Secretary of Defense and the world is seeing right now why @realDonaldTrump tapped him for the job!“
- Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY): “Pete Hegseth’s extensive service to our nation makes him uniquely qualified to serve as Defense Secretary. We need to build a U.S. military the American people can be proud of, and Pete Hegseth will be the one to do it”
- Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN): “Pete Hegseth is the right person to lead and bring reform to the Pentagon. I’m proud to support my friend and fellow Tennessean, and I know he will do a great job today making his case to the American people.”
- Senator John Cornyn (R-TX): “The Pentagon needs shaking up from the dangerous status quo, and I’m confident Pete will do just that.”
- Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO): “I think Pete Hegseth did a great job today. I think he’s sailing towards a confirmation. I think we’re going to do it quickly.”
- National Security Advisor-designate Mike Waltz: “We have someone with an unconventional background who’s not a defense industry executive, who’s not a former general — I say good! That’s a good thing. It’s time for REFORM in the Pentagon.”
- Gen. Barry McCaffrey (ret.): “He is Princeton-educated, he’s smart, he’s articulate, he does know a ton about national security issues as a commentator on TV and he conducted himself very well in his four-hour plus hearing … This guy is going to get confirmed.”
- Former NSC Senior Director Michael Allen: “What [Pete Hegseth] will be is the soldier’s secretary.”
- Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer: “Pete Hegseth is crushing it. It is refreshing to hear someone relentlessly focus on warriors and lethality, without playing Washington’s word-salad game of forcing nominees to talk like social workers who run government agencies.”
- CNN’s Scott Jennings: “Pete Hegseth kicked their asses today. It wasn’t even close. They didn’t even lay a glove on Hegseth … The Democrats on the committee acted in such a bizarre and unprofessional way.”
- Townhall’s Katie Pavlich: “Pete Hegseth answered a lot of questions today, including very uncomfortable, personal questions … He talked about how he is a changed man. He thanked his wife and his family and people around him for supporting him — and he had a room full of veterans who were there supporting his leadership skills.”
- The Washington Examiner’s Byron York: “Hegseth hearing now in third hour. Going well for Hegseth. Dems flailing. Questioning on women in military fizzled, especially Gillibrand’s agitated speechifying. Finally got down and dirty with Hirono and particularly Kaine. Don’t think it worked. Hegseth effective throughout.”
- Fox News’s Will Cain: “This man is crushing it.”
- Megyn Kelly: “Pete Hegseth crushed it today and no one laid a glove on him, despite some odd hysterics by some of those trying.”
Piers Morgan: “If I was in the United States military watching @PeteHegseth’s confirmation hearing testimony today, I’d be very happy he’s going to be Defense Secretary. Very impressive under fire – smart, calm, informed, & combative where necessary.”