‘Pretty Low Ranking Guy’: Duckworth Dismisses ‘Unqualified’ Pete Hegseth Nomination as ‘Insult’ to DOD
Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth said Sunday that Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is “unqualified” for the job, dismissing his military service as “low ranking” and arguing that Donald Trump choosing to nominate him is an “insult” in light of “troubling” accusations that have surfaced.
Duckworth appeared on the latest Face the Nation from CBS News, and spoke with host Margaret Brennan on the subject of Trump’s nominations and appointments for his cabinet and related positions – a list that was complete after Saturday’s final additions.
During the interview, Duckworth eventually said – with some enthusiasm – that she could see herself supporting some of Trump’s nominees. But before getting to that, she expressed her objections to Hegseth going to the Department of Defense.
Duckworth, a retired Lt. Colonel and Purple Heart recipient who lost her leg when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting in Iraq as a member of the Illinois Army National Guard was struck with enemy RPG fire, took exception to Hegseth’s opposition to women serving in combat roles in any way.
The senator said it showed his lack of understanding about “where our military is,” a fact she attributed to his low rank and lack of experience.
“He was a pretty low-ranking guy in the military, and he never had a command position. He was a platoon leader, I think, once or twice, but he never even commanded a company,” she said. “And so this is a man who is inordinately unqualified for the position.”
When Brennan asked about the allegations against Hegseth, Duckworth expressed her concern that Republicans will “roll over” for Trump on Hegseth’s nomination, which she called an “insult.”
“It’s frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that he’s paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him,” she said. “This is not the kind of person you want to lead the Department of Defense.”
BRENNAN: Having served in combat yourself, what do you think of the idea that women make fighting more complicated? That was specifically what he focused on.
DUCKWORTH: Well, it just shows his lack of understanding of where our military is. He was a pretty low-ranking guy in the military, and he never had a command position. He was a platoon leader, I think, once or twice, but he never even commanded a company. And so this is a man who is inordinately unqualified for the position.
Remember that the Pentagon is three million servicemen and women and civilians. It is over a $900 billion budget. He’s never, you know, run anything anywhere near to that size. And, frankly, women actually make our military more effective.
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BRENNAN: The question of character has also come up in regard to this leadership role. Mr. Hegseth has acknowledged that he paid a woman back in 2017 to quiet her accusations of sexual assault. He claims it was consensual sex. I’m sure you read that Monterey police report, as we did here. It refers to the offense code as – quote – “rape, victim unconscious of the nature of the act.” It details both the accuser’s and Hegseth’s version of events. Here’s what Senator Markwayne Mullin said it shows: “two people flirting with each other.”Is the committee going to speak with the victim to ask if this was a misunderstanding?
DUCKWORTH: Well, that’s – that will be the decision of the Republican chairman of the committee next year. I hope that we will. But I suspect that they, again, will roll over for Mr. Trump.
Frankly, I will make – raise those questions. Remember that we’ve just fought over a decade of fights and – and overhauled the military and its treatment of military sexual trauma.
It’s frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that he’s paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him. This is not the kind of person you want to lead the Department of Defense.
Watch the clip above via CBS News.
