In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of a decorated military veteran and best-selling author to head the Department of Defense, U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) says he’s not impressed.
“I haven’t seen a lot that impresses me,” Sen. King said of Pete Hegseth, a 20-year military veteran, winner of the Bronze Star, and Fox News presenter.
Trump announced the pick in a social media post Tuesday.
“Nobody fights harder for the troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy,” said President Trump.
Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran, having achieved the rank of Major in the Army National Guard.
He fought in both Afghanistan and Iraq, where he earned a Bronze Star Medal for heroic conduct in a combat zone.
He later became a presenter for FOX News and has authored four books.
His most recent book, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, published this year, focuses on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles infiltrating the military.
Democratic politicians and left-wing media personalities quickly condemned Trump’s pick, accusing him of extremism, and white supremacy, and claiming that he is unqualified for the job.
King, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed his skepticism about Hegseth’s qualifications to serve as Secretary of Defense.
“I haven’t seen a lot that impresses me as qualifications for one of the most complicated and important jobs in the country, if not the world,” said King, a career politician, wind turbine profiteer, and former Bowdoin College professor.
“So I’m going to await, as I always do, the hearings and information,” said King.
He promised to decide on whether to vote to confirm Hegseth only after the formal confirmation hearing process.
In contrast to Hegseth, President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Defense, four-star General Lloyd Austin, served on the board of Raytheon, a massive military-industrial corporation and weapons manufacturer.
In 2021, King voted to confirm Austin because of, in part, “President Biden’s faith in his judgment.”
Austin would later cast doubt on his own judgement by attempting to cover up a hospitalization that left him incapacitated and broke the military chain of command, a lapse for which he later apologized.
The Maine Wire reached out to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), asking for her opinion on Hegseth, but she did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Other left-wing politicians and media personalities were less reserved in their criticisms of Hegseth than King.
“Pete Hegseth is not remotely qualified to be Secretary of Defense. The SecDef makes life-and-death decisions daily that impact our 2 million troops around the globe. This is not an entry-level job for a TV commentator. The Senate should do its job and deny this nomination,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Color.) on X responding to Hesgeth’s appointment.
Hegseth drew criticism from both the left and the more libertarian wing of the Republican Party for his hardline support for Israel, grounded in his interpretation of the Bible.
“What Western Civilization represents today is an understanding that Zionism and Americanism are the front lines of Western Civilization and freedom in our world today,” said Hegseth, speaking at a National Council of Young Israel event.
Social media users quickly accused Hegseth of antisemitism, claiming that his tattoo of a Jerusalem Cross, a historical Christian symbol, is actually a swastika.
“Trumps secretary of defense…. are we supposed to pretend that isn’t a SWASTIKA ????,” said self-described media personality and “J6th virtual survivor” Claire Foster on X.
The post was quickly met with a Community Note on X, explaining the difference between the Jerusalem Cross and a swastika.
After Trump announced his pick, a clip from MSNBC went viral, showing a guest baselessly calling Hegseth a “white supremacist” and claiming that his book on DEI in the military was actually just about opposing the promotion of Black officers.
Hegseth also caused controversy over his belief that women should not serve in combat roles in the military.
“I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat rolls. It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated,” said Hegseth.
Here’s a list of Trump’s other picks to serve in the MAGA 2.0 administration:
- Secretary of State: Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida
- Attorney General: Matt Gaetz, U.S. Representative from Florida
- Secretary of the Interior: Doug Burgum, Governor of North Dakota
- Secretary of Health and Human Services: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., environmental lawyer
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins, former U.S. Representative
- Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem, Governor of South Dakota
- Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Lee Zeldin, former U.S. Representative from New York
- Ambassador to the United Nations: Elise Stefanik, U.S. Representative from New York
- Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard, former U.S. Representative from Hawaii
- Director of the Central Intelligence Agency: John Ratcliffe, former Director of National Intelligence
- White House Chief of Staff: Susie Wiles, senior campaign adviser
- National Security Advisor: Mike Waltz, U.S. Representative from Florida
- Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy: Stephen Miller, former senior adviser
- ‘Border Czar’: Tom Homan, former Acting ICE Director
- Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas
- Special Envoy to the Middle East: Steven Witkoff, real estate executive
- White House Counsel: William McGinley, former Cabinet Secretary
- Deputy Attorney General: Todd Blanche, personal attorney to Trump
- Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General: Emil Bove, former U.S. Attorney
- Solicitor General: D. John Sauer, former Missouri Solicitor General
- Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk (Tesla and SpaceX CEO) and Vivek Ramaswamy (entrepreneur)
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