Lt. General Rips Hegseth and Trump on MSNBC for ‘Insulting’ Troops With ‘Offensive’ Claim DEI Spurs Promotions
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling ripped Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for his “offensive” and “insulting” claims that “wokeness or DEI” has played any part in troops moving up the ranks in the military, shortly after Hegseth told top commanders on Tuesday the U.S. military was done with “woke garbage.”
Hertling was brought on to MSNBC shortly after Hegseth shared his planned for a revamped military. Here is what he told host Ana Cabrera:
The thing I’ve got to stick up for is the defense of the American military — the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines; I’ve never served with Space Force guardians. But those four services I’ve had the opportunity to serve with, not only in combat, but on the joint staff and in various assignments through my career. There are not finer human beings across our force. There is a reason why the other armies of the world say we are the best on the globe. They are well trained, well-disciplined, and they swear an oath to the constitution. And I just really find it offensive that anyone is insulting them and claiming that it’s their promotions and their advancements through the services are a result of policies or wokeness or DEI, because that’s just not true.
His sharp remarks came shortly after Hegseth gave his speech to hundreds of top generals and military members at Quantico.
Hegseth outlined his plan for the U.S. military moving forward, where combat troops would return to meeting the “highest male standard only”; Hegseth also said he was implementing a new physical fitness plan for troops and generals, saying it was “tiring” to see “fat” generals walking around.
“It’s a bad look,” Hegseth said about rotund generals. “It is bad, and it’s not who we are.”
President Donald Trump addressed the assembled military leaders as well — and Hertling said he was not a fan of the president’s comments, either. Hertling said “I found my mouth open” when Trump started speaking, and that he “just couldn’t believe some of the things” the president was saying, without sharing any specific examples.
“This is somewhat similar to the speech he gave at the UN [last week]. It’s somewhat shocking and it’s filled with mistruths, and he’s addressing a bunch of men and women who serve all over the world, who have firsthand experience in some of the alliances and what he’s talking about in terms of war fighting,” Hertling added. “So I would suspect it’s not being taken well.”
Hertling served in the U.S. Army for 38 years as a tanker and cavalryman. You can watch his comments above, via MSNBC.
