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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Jason Wilson

Revealed: Trump Pentagon nominee endorsed extremist Christian doctrine on podcast

a man in a suit looks out from behind a microphone
Pete Hegseth during his confirmation hearing earlier this month. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

In a series of newly unearthed podcasts, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, appears to endorse the theocratic and authoritarian doctrine of “sphere sovereignty”, a worldview derived from the extremist beliefs of Christian reconstructionism (CR) and espoused by churches aligned with far-right Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson.

In the recordings, Hegseth rails against “cultural Marxism”, feminism, “critical race theory”, and even democracy itself, which he says “our founders blatantly rejected as being completely dangerous”.

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