Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for leadership the Pentagonpraised women in the military as some of the “greatest warriors” after critics criticized comments he made about women not being fit to serve in combat roles.
“I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misinterpreted, namely that I somehow do not support women in the military. Some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there, are women,” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Monday.
Women service members “love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do that every day around the world. I don’t assume anything,” he added.
‘But after that President Trump asked me to become his Secretary of Defense, should I have the opportunity to do so, I look forward to serving as Secretary to all our warriors, men and women, because of the tremendous contributions they make in our military.”
Defense Secretary candidate Pete Hegseth joins Fox News’ Sean Hannity. (Fox News)
Hegseth will spend this week meeting with senators Capitol Hill to secure the 50 votes he needs to secure the cabinet-level position.
On a Nov. 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired just days before Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor, was tapped to serve as secretary of defense, the nominee said, “I’m going to say, honestly, we don’t women in politics. combat roles.”
Hegseth claimed that women serving in combat roles “hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal” and “has made fighting more complicated.”
Hegseth noted that he wasn’t necessarily advocating for making the change now, commenting; “Imagine the demagoguery in Washington, DC, if you actually advocated, ‘We need to reduce women in combat.’”
Hegseth attends meetings on Capitol Hill with senators whose votes he must confirm (Anna Geldmaker)
“As a disclaimer to everyone out there,” he added, “we’ve all served with women and they’re great. It’s just that our institutions don’t have to encourage that in places where… over the course of human history, men have been more capable.”
TRUMP RALLIES BEHIND HEGSETH BUT INVITES DESANTIS TO THE ARMY-NAVY GAME
He said, “I like women soldiers who make great contributions,” but claimed that “everything about women serving together complicates the situation and complications in combat mean the casualties are worse.”
He also criticized the upper echelons of the military leadership for changing norms and values prioritizing the fulfillment of diversity quotas above combat effectiveness. He pointed to a 2015 Marine Corps study that found integrated male-female units fared “dramatically worse” in terms of combat effectiveness than all-male units.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, left, accompanied by his wife Jennifer Hegseth, attends a meeting with Senator Mike Rounds, R-S.D., member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, December 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Between bone density, lung capacity and muscle strength, men and women are just different,” he said. “So I’m okay with you maintaining the standards where they apply to everyone, and if there’s a, you know, hardworking woman who meets that standard, great, cool, join the infantry battalion. But that is not the case. What has happened is that standards have been lowered.”
