The hosts of The View slammed President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth as U.S. Secretary of Defense after his comments about women in combat and lack of government experience.
Trump announced Hegseth's selection in a social media post on Tuesday, stating, "Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First."
"I'm grateful to Pete Hegseth for his service, but he has no policy making experience and no Pentagon experience, and by all accounts, the reason that Donald Trump chose him is because he wants a disruptor who's going to help implement his agenda," co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said.
Hegseth served with the Minnesota National Guard and conducted three tours of Iraq and Afghanistan as a platoon commander and civil-military operations officer. During this time he was awarded two Bronze Stars as well as a Combat Infantryman Badge. He has appeared regularly on Fox News to discuss military matters. If his appointment is confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth would replace current defense secretary Lloyd Austin, a retired four star general.
"The problem is much more qualified people have gone into that role to disrupt the Pentagon, make it more streamlined, less bureaucratic, and they've never succeeded," Farah Griffin continued. "They've ended up being outmaneuvered by four star generals in the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I would also argue it's the second most important position in government, after the President of the United States. You need a cool head with the experience to do the job. And I don't think he has it."
Hegseth addressed his views on women in combat during an appearance on The Shawn Ryan Show last week, where he discussed his new book, The War on Warriors.
When asked, "You don't like women in combat?" He replied, "No. I love women service members who contribute amazingly. Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated and complication in combat means casualties are worse."
Hegseth continued, "I'm okay with the idea that you maintain the standards where they are for everybody. And if there's some hard charging female that meets that standard, great, cool, join the industry of battalion. But that is not what's happened."
Co-host Sunny Hostin weighed in on the pick.
"I think what he said about women says a lot about who he is," Hostin said. "I think we're seeing misogyny play out. I think we're seeing racism playing out. We should be disgusted. We should be very, very concerned."
Co-host Sara Haines expressed being "a little worried" about Hegseth's selection, citing concerns over the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, and rising tensions in Asia and China.
"You're picking someone who has served for five or six years, he was mid ranking, never has worked in the government," Haines said. "Beyond what he's saying just about women, the scary part is the Secretary of Defense is the highest ranking member of the federal cabinet, and there's a budget of $841 billion. It's the largest government agency. It operates 4800 sites in over 160 countries."
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