{"id":25267,"date":"2024-11-19T09:08:04","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=25267"},"modified":"2024-11-19T09:29:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:29:53","slug":"pete-hegseth-receives-criticism-praise-for-stance-on-women-in-combat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/11\/pete-hegseth-receives-criticism-praise-for-stance-on-women-in-combat","title":{"rendered":"Pete Hegseth Receives Criticism, Praise For Stance on Women in Combat"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As President-elect Donald Trump reveals his picks for top government positions, some face criticism for their backgrounds. Other than Trump\u2019s pick of Florida senator Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, no pick has been more controversial than his pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Hegseth, a former Army National Guard infantry officer, has served in multiple tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guant\u00e1namo Bay, Cuba. He is also known for his books, including The Coddling of the American Mind<\/em>, and appearing as a host of Fox News<\/em>. His critics, however, have taken issue with his stance against women serving in combat roles.<\/p>\n

Hegseth has been vocal in his opposition to women serving in combat since former president Barrack Obama lifted the ban on women in combat in 2016. \u201cI don’t think it improves our war-fighting capabilities. This administration has been all about social engineering and social justice from the beginning,\u201d he said at the time<\/a>. In a previous interview<\/a> with Ben Shapiro of The Daily Wire<\/em>, Hegseth stated that he supported women in other roles, but not combat. \u201cThey could be medics or helicopter pilots or whatever. But they create all sorts of variables and complications that have nothing to do with being anti-women and everything to do with having the most effective military.\u201d In a podcast on \u201cThe Shawn Ryan Show,\u201d he continued to defend his position. \u201cI’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. It hasn’t made us more lethal [and] has made fighting more complicated,\u201d he said. He has also stated that standards have had to be changed in order to allow women to qualify for combat roles. \u201c[Women] will do the combat jobs of men knowing that we’ve changed the standards in putting them there. Which means you’ve changed the capability of that unit. If you say you haven’t, you’re a liar because everybody knows between bone density and lung capacity and muscle strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth\u2019s views have received pushback, particularly from women who have served or are serving. \u201cWe already have enough issues,\u201d an anonymous US army Colonel told NBC News<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI could see how it could hurt a lot of potential on who serves and who stays serving, if policies like that change. It would be like taking back our ability to vote.\u201d Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs in 2004 while flying combat missions during Iraqi Freedom, has also been critical of the pick. \u201cWhere do you think I lost my legs? In a bar fight? I\u2019m pretty sure I was in combat when that happened. It just shows how out of touch he is with the nature of modern warfare if he thinks that we can keep women behind some sort of imaginary line, which is not the way warfare is today,\u201d she told CNN<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hegseth has had his defenders. \u201cThere’s roles and missions for everyone involved in the military. But when it comes to physical endurance, there’s a difference between men and women. And let’s call it the way it is,\u201d said Representative Ryan Zinke (R-Mont). Jessie Jane Duff of Veterans for Trump defended Hegseth as well, pointing at a study. \u201cPete Hegseth knows the reality. The Marines did 9-month study that showed women in ground combat is a lethal mistake. President Obama completely discarded the study.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  As President-elect Donald Trump reveals his picks for top government positions, some face criticism for their backgrounds. Other than Trump\u2019s pick of Florida senator Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, no pick has been more controversial than his pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Hegseth, a former Army National Guard infantry officer, has served in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":25264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2444,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nPete Hegseth Receives Criticism, Praise For Stance on Women in Combat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/11\/pete-hegseth-receives-criticism-praise-for-stance-on-women-in-combat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pete Hegseth Receives Criticism, Praise For Stance on Women in Combat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  As President-elect Donald Trump reveals his picks for top government positions, some face criticism for their backgrounds. 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