Pete Hegseth’s spectacle last Thursday should be enough to warrant his removal as secretary of defense in and of itself. In a ranting video posted on social media in response to reporting on his potential impeachment, Hegseth once again put his violent extremism, emotional instability, and psychological volatility on full display as he made direct overtures threatening the use of the U.S. military against his political enemies. Or, as he calls them, “the radical Democrats.”
Most of us knew a Hegseth tenure would be catastrophic. Now, a year and a half in, it’s been far worse than I predicted in March last year when I publicly blew the whistle on his unlawful dismantling of the Pentagon’s civilian protection center, where I served as chief of civilian harm assessments, and raised alarms about his ideology and character.
With Pete Hegseth at the helm of the most powerful military in history, under the free rein given to him by Donald Trump, the United States has come to embody far-right fascism and the pursuit of global domination – economically, politically, and militarily.
While Hegseth’s proclaimed mantra has been “Peace through Strength,” the reality played out before the world has been Submission through Tyranny. Under this administration, the United States has sought nothing less than submission – from our adversaries, from our allies, and from the American people, with Hegseth wielding the U.S. military as his primary instrument of enforcement.