Hegseth Denies Saying Women Don't Belong In Combat? Roll Tape
Trump's pick to be Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, made an appearance on Hannity's show on Fox this Monday, and was asked about Sen. Joni Ernst, who made some mealymouthed remarks about supporting "Pete through this process," and for Hegseth to get "a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.”
I'm not sure who she thinks are "anonymous sources" since Hegseth is fully aware of who the woman is that signed the NDA with him, but I digress. Ernst previously said she hadn't made up her mind yet on Hegseth, and saying she supports him having a hearing is not the same as saying she'll vote for him.
Ernst is a combat veteran, so Hegseth’s remarks about women in combat couldn't be sitting well with her. Here's a reminder of what Hegseth said just a month ago on a podcast:
He also declared that female soldiers should not be allowed to fight on the front lines.
“I’m straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles,” Hegseth said on the podcast. “It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.”
Now he's trying to backtrack. Here's the exchange with Hannity.