‘Superheroes’: Hegseth slams ‘misunderstood’ claims he opposes women in the military

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, has hailed women in the military as some of his “greatest heroes” after critics took issue with his comments about women not being fit to take part in the war.

“I also want an opportunity here to clarify some misconceptions, that somehow I don’t support women in the military, some of our greatest heroes, our greatest heroes are women,” she told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Monday.

Female service members “love our nation, they want to protect that flag, and they do it every day around the world. I don’t think anything of it,” she added.

“But after President Trump asked me to be his Secretary of Defense, if I ever get the chance to do that, I look forward to being the secretary for all of our heroes, men and women, for the incredible contributions they make to our war.”

Hegseth will spend this week meeting with senators on Capitol Hill to decide on the 50 votes he needs to secure a Cabinet position.

AFTER THE SECOND MEETING WITH HEGSETH, ERNST NOTES THAT HE WILL COME EVEN WHETHER HE DOESN’T SUPPORT THE CONFIRMATION.

On a Nov. 7 episode of Shawn Ryan’s podcast, which aired a few days before Hegseth, a former Fox News employee, was nominated to serve as Secretary of Defense, the nominee said: “I’m right in saying that we shouldn’t have women in combat roles.”

Hegseth asserted that women serving in combat roles “didn’t make us more successful, didn’t make us more dangerous” and “made fighting more difficult.”

Hegseth noted that he was not advocating for a change to be made at this time, commenting; “Think about the demagoguery in Washington, DC, if you were actually responding to it, you know, ‘We’ve got to get women out of the fight.’

Hegseth attends meetings on Capitol Hill with senators whose votes need to be confirmed (Anna Moneymaker)

“As a way of denying everyone out there,” he added, “we have all worked with women and they are beautiful, our institutions should not encourage that in places where … .”

TRUMP RALIES BEHIND HEGSETH BUT INVITES DESANTIS TO ARMY-NAVY GAME

She said, “I admire the female service members who give so incredibly well,” but asserted that “everything about women working together complicates the situation and the difficulty in combat means the casualties are worse.”

He also criticized the senior military leadership for changing ranks once prioritizing to fill different assignments above fighting successfully. He cited a 2015 study by the Marine Corps that found co-ed units performed “significantly worse” in terms of combat effectiveness than all-male units.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, left, with his wife Jennifer Hegseth, attended a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, RS.D., member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)

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“Between bone strength and lung strength and muscle strength, men and women are just different,” he said. “So, I’m fine if you keep the standards where everyone else is, and if there are, you know, hard-charging women who meet that standard, fine, fine, join the military. But that’s not the case. What’s happened is the standards have gone down.”