Conservative exposes real motivation behind Trump’s controversial defense secretary pick

27 November 2024

One of the many controversial picks for President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration is Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host he has in mind for defense secretary.

Hegseth's critics, including Never Trump conservatives, have been attacking him for a variety of reasons — including his lack of experience, his far-right Christian nationalist views, and a sexual assault allegation he has vehemently denied. Hegseth is a military veteran, but his critics have been pointing out that he hardly has the high-ranking experience of Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III — President Joe Biden's outgoing defense secretary. When Biden nominated Austin, now 71, he came with a very long resumé.

During an interview with his colleague at The Atlantic, Hanna Rosin, for the "Radio Atlantic" program, Never Trump conservative Tom Nichols — a professor emeritus at the Naval War College — laid out some reasons why he considers Hegseth a highly problematic nominee.

Nichols described Trump's Hegseth pick as "a direct attack on our traditions of civil-military affairs."

Nichols told Rosin, "(Trump) is trying to send a message that from now on, America's military officers are supposed to be loyal to him, first and foremost, and not the Constitution. Because he still carries a pretty serious grudge against a lot of top military and civilian people during his first term as president who got in his way — or he thinks got in his way — about doing things like, you know, shooting protesters and using the military in the streets of the United States."

Nichols added, "So, he's sending a pretty clear message that this time around, he's not going to brook any of that kind of interference."

Nichols, during the interview, stressed that Trump wants a defense secretary who is as passive and obedient as possible — even if his orders are overtly illegal.

The Never Trump conservative told Rosin, "No matter what it is and no matter how unconstitutional or illegal the order, he doesn't want anybody to say: We're not doing that. And remember, the first time he ran, he said things like: If I tell my generals — 'my generals,' which is a phrase he loves — if I tell my generals to torture people, they'll do it. And of course, immediately, a lot of very senior officers said: No, no, sir, we will not do that. That's an illegal order. We can't do that."

Nichols adds, "He doesn't want to hear any of that guff this time around."

Hanna Rosin's full interview with Tom Nichols for The Atlantic is available at this link (subscription required).

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