Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has said she was left “stunned” by Donald Trump’s decision to select her one-time colleague Pete Hegseth as his new secretary of defense.
On Tuesday, the president-elect tapped 44-year-old self-styled “anti-woke” media pundit and staunch Trump supporter as his incoming Pentagon chief as he fills key posts in his second administration.
The decision to pick the current Fox News contributor was met with a mixture of praise, criticism and confusion due to his lack of national security experience.
Among the critics was his former colleague and ex-longtime Fox News host Carlson, who left the network after a decade in 2016 having filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against chairman Roger Ailes.
Carlson took to X on Tuesday evening to slam Trump’s decision.
“From silly diner interviews on Weekend Fox and Friends to Secretary of Defense?” she said.
“I never thought I’d say I’m stunned about any pick after the election but nominating Pete Hegseth for this incredibly important role? Yes he’s a veteran… and?”
Questions about Hegseth’s qualifications for the senior cabinet position were also raised by security officials and Republican politicians.
“Who the f*** is this guy?” a defense industry lobbyist who was granted anonymity told Politico, adding that they had hoped Trump would nominate “someone who actually has an extensive background in defense. That would be a good start.”
“Trump picking Pete Hegseth is the most hilariously predictably stupid thing,” former Republican congressman and Trump critic Adam Kinzinger wrote on X.
When told about the decision, GOP Senator of Louisiana Bill Cassidy responded, “Who?” according to NBC News reporter Frank Thorp.
In Trump’s announcement, he pointed to Hegseth’s former life as a soldier and his Ivy League education.
“Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” the president-elect wrote in a statement.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
Hegseth’s new role will see him take charge of the Department of Defense and about 1.4 million active military personnel in the executive department of the Armed Forces. His installation will require Senate approval.
He has considerably less experience than his predecessor Lloyd Austin’s 50-year long military career – serving as the 12th commander of United States Central Command between 2013 and 2016 and vice chief of staff of the Army in 2012.
A 2003 graduate of Princeton University, Hegseth also has a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government.
Hegseth was deployed with the Minnesota Army National Guard as an infantry platoon leader to Iraq and as a captain to Afghanistan. He earned two Bronze Stars, two Army Commendation Medals and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge throughout his decade-long military career.
He also briefly ran for Senate for his home state of Minnesota in 2012 as a GOP candidate before withdrawing from the race.
After his life in the military, Hegseth joined Fox News in 2014 and has hosted shows All-American New Year and the weekend edition of Fox & Friends – with his last day at the network on Tuesday.
During his time at the network, Hegseth lobbied Trump to support US soldiers and contractors accused of war crimes, including Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher and a group of Blackwater personnel accused of massacring civilians in Baghdad.
Hegseth has complained about the US’s funding of Ukraine’s fight against Russia over the past three years and last week called Russia’s invasion “Putin’s give-me-my-s**t-back war,” according to Reuters.
He has also been an outspoken advocate for Israel and suggested both its founding as a nation-state and the US revolution against Great Britain represented “the story of God’s chosen people.”
Trump has filled other roles in his administration, selecting former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA and Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
