Pete Hegseth Is Bringing White Nationalism to the Pentagon
When taken in the context of what other agency heads have declared, Hegseth’s priorities are alarming and dangerous
On Friday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth held a town hall at the Pentagon (video below) regarding his priorities at the Department of Defense (DOD). His opening speech echoed much of what Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, and others have said they are bringing to their respective agencies: white nationalism.
After referring to countries that govern differently than the U.S. as enemies and bringing the “warrior ethos back” to the military, he railed about diversity, equity, and inclusion being divisive and called the “diversity is our strength” slogan stupid.
Hegseth’s third priority was, of course, immigration. This subject came up as he spoke about global deterrence and said that securing the borders is a top priority for the Pentagon. While Hegseth said that many people coming to the U.S. are seeking a better life, he immediately employed the “invasion” narrative by utilizing the fearmongering we’ve seen for years as if the vast majority of migrants aren’t screened and cleared before being released into the country.
"We also don't know who millions of them are, what their intentions are, why they're here. That creates a very real national security threat to the country," Hegseth said. "Border security is national security … we're going to get 100% operational control of our southern border, and that needs to be and will be a focus of this department."
It’s unclear how the Trump administration intends to use the military to conduct law enforcement operations, something it is barred from doing in the U.S. Constitution, but this points to a potentially slippery slope for an authoritarian-styled administration focused on many issues that target nonwhite groups and poor people. Using phrasing such as “repel and seal” the southern border is alarming as it is not a warzone no matter how much they suggest it is.
While Hegseth said many things most in the U.S. like to hear, it’s hard to take him or anyone in the administration seriously, especially after seeing them backtrack on so much. He suggested there would be accountability at the DOD and that every citizen deserves to see where the $850 billion spent by the Pentagon goes. But he suggested a program like Broken Windows policing to find waste – almost referring to DOD staff as criminals while explaining it.
Highlighting just how out of touch he is with his responsibility and showcasing his lack of qualifications for the job, when he was asked about how the U.S. can maintain its dominance around the world Hegseth responded with, “You tell me.” He then rambled about authoritarian governments while seemingly laying the foundation for one. Meanwhile, the majority of the military and civilian crowd looked stunned by much of what he said.
No matter how good of a speaker you think he is or how charismatic he may seem, Hegseth was clearly out of his element on that stage and is a far cry away from that loud-mouthed, opinionated Fox News personality. This makes it hard to get past his list of priorities which includes policies that target or eliminate programs for marginalized people.
Hegseth and every other Trump appointee has so far taken all the pejorative dog whistles (coded language) we’ve seen online that are used in bigoted rhetoric and they’re bringing them to positions of power. They’re openly declaring how they intend to use those positions to enact policies that reinforce the malicious language targeting various groups thus bringing the logic of hate groups to the government and giving those ideas unprecedented power.
Watch Hegseth’s Town Hall
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The embedded military outlets known as the media never go to bat for brown or black people to ensure their bullshit job security. One has to be suspicious of the outcome when they do since it’s a ploy to hijack the liberation narrative. Imagine incorporating broken window policing to uncover waste when the entire Pentagon is an apartheid enforcing waste of international humanitarian law.