Surprisingly, the major broadcast networks had avoided the false, manufactured conspiracy theory about Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s Christian tattoos being symbols of white supremacy, but that ended Monday with ABC’s Good Morning America diving in without apology.
It came a day after the same show whined that Hegseth’s arrival at the Pentagon (if confirmed by the Senate) would be “cultural shock and awe” in ridding the military of its woke elements. That kvetching came at the same time NBC’s Sunday Today raised concern about his goal (along with President-Elect Trump) of bringing accountability to military generals involved in the deadly 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.
ABC’s former North Korean news lady for the Kamala Harris campaign — chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce — was put on the case:
ABC’s Mary Bruce on Monday’s ‘Good Morning America’: @PeteHegseth “is also under fire for some of his tattoos depicting religious symbols and phrases that fellow service members flagged to his superiors over confirms they are associated with white supremacists. Hegseth saying… pic.twitter.com/Fisl3w0cCZ
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 18, 2024
Notice that last line: “Hegseth’s post notably not disavowing the supremacists who have adopted the symbolism, though he has in the past.”
Oh, that’s her evidence? Claiming without evidence they’ve been coopted by white supremacists, so Hegseth is guilty by extension?
Just under 24 hours earlier, weekend co-host Gio Benitez asked This Week co-host Martha Raddatz about Hegseth: “He’s a Fox News host, nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Defense. You’ve covered the Pentagon for many years, through many wars. How could Hegseth change the D.O.D.?”
A very concerned Raddatz complained Hegseth would upset the apple cart with her career pals inside The Swamp.
She said Hegseth “could really change it dramatically” since he’s said “throughout his book and in public that the senior leadership at the Pentagon, generals should be fired because they are ‘woke.’”
She continued to huff:
He believes the Pentagon has gone too far with diversity and inclusion training and he has made quite clear he does not think women should be in combat. Women, of course, have been approved for ground combat positions for a decade. They are in those positions now. They are doing the work. They are excelling, but whether he would try to make those changes or not, it would be cultural shock and awe there. Imagine right now, Gio, being one of those women.
Over on NBC, correspondent Allie Raffa told host Willie Geist about plans for Hegseth to hold both “current and former military personnel involved in the pullout” responsible for the chaos:
NBC’s ‘Sunday Today’ was all bent out of shape that President-Elect Trump and @PeteHegseth want to — *checks notes* — bring those responsible for the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal to justice....
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 18, 2024
Willie Geist: “So, Allie, Hegseth has also been a vocal critic of the deadly U.S.… pic.twitter.com/A4aPc3gasa
Like a good liberal, Raffa made sure to defend the Biden administration by bothsides-ing it: “An 2022 independent review blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the botched withdrawal.”
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