Pete Hegseth, a veteran at war against wokism to lead national defense

The appointment of Peter Hegseth, a war veteran and television personality, as Secretary of Defense by Donald Trump was one of the most surprising choices in the president-elect’s team and one of the most controversial decisions to date. The president-elect justified his choice by his brilliant career as a military man and for his "fighting on behalf of the warriors," victims of the "betrayal of the left" and for being the right man to return the country's military to "meritocracy, lethality, accountability and excellence" with a vision of achieving "peace through strength."

The doubts about his ability to lead a monster with more than three million employees like the Pentagon given his poor management experience, as well as accusations of sexual misconduct and a penchant for drinking were the main stumbling blocks to his approval, as they raised suspicions among some Republican lawmakers needed to reach a majority. Hegseth himself addressed them to ask that their vote be based on what they hear from him and not on "media conspiracies." He even went so far as to pledge to "forget about alcohol" if his nomination went through in meetings with conservative senators.

Hegseth, 44, is one of the new-generation Republican leaders Trump is throwing to the forefront with his new Cabinet. He served in the infantry and was deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. During his military career he was decorated with two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantry Badge. After his transition to civilian life in 2021 he continued to be concerned about and work for soldiers as a leader of the conservative group Concerned Veterans for America.

Eradicating Wokism in the military

One of the priorities for Hegseth is fighting to the death against the woke culture, and eradicating it from all the country's military corps, totally immersed in its dynamics after the passage of Joe Biden through the White House. In a recent appearance on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast, the candidate assured that "the dumbest phrase on planet Earth in the military is 'our diversity is our strength'."

In fact, in this same interview, Hegseth noted: "First of all you gotta fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs [General Charles Q. Brown]. Any general, admiral, or anyone that was involved in any of the DEI woke s***, has got to go. Either you're here to wage war, that's it. That's the only litmus test we care about."

Hegseth charged that he was purged from the service at Biden's inauguration

Hegseth accused the outgoing president of effecting "a purge" in the Army to impose his DEI ideals in every sense of race or sexual orientation. In fact, he himself sees himself as a victim of it, since he claimed to have been removed from National Guard service at Biden's inauguration by being "considered an extremist" by his commanders for wearing a cross tattooed on his chest. The officers claimed it was a symbol of "white supremacy," while he defends that it is just "a token" of his Christian faith.

The military alluded to, and indicated that the tattoo denounced was a "Deus Vult" (God wills it) on the candidate's arm. Their explanation for removing it is that it is the Christian war cry in the Crusades and is now used by extremists who believe in the clash of civilizations between the Christian and Muslim worlds.

Faith, the central pillar of Hegseth's life

If one thing is clear, it is that faith is the central pillar of Hegseth's life. In fact, in 2022, he settled his family in order to send his children to a private Christian school, despite the fact that he has to travel to New York every week for his professional commitments with Fox.

In his stint as a Fox host he also showed his concern for military affairs. Hegseth has been a weekend host of Fox and Friends for years. After his nomination, the network issued a statement noting Hegseth's work and the success of his show: "Hegseth's ideas and analysis, especially about the military, resonated deeply with our viewers and made the show the huge success it is today. We are very proud of his work at Fox News Media and wish him the best of luck in Washington."