​US Army leader tears apart Trump chief for crossing 'inappropriate' line​

On Monday, the New York Times reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Iowa to campaign for GOP Rep. Zach Nunn, who is seeking reelection. Hegseth said he was there in strictly a "personal capacity," yet he traveled to Iowa in a taxpayer-funded military aircraft. And media figure Paul Rieckhoff, who served in the U.S. Army during the Iraq War, is calling out the visit as highly "inappropriate."

In a Tuesday afternoon post on X, formerly Twitter, Rieckhoff posted, "Unprecedented and inappropriate. Not acceptable on any level. [Donald] Rumsfeld, [Dick] Cheney, [Chucl] Hagel. None of them did this. Or would have."

Rieckhoff, in his tweet, was referring to two officials who served in the George W. Bush administration during the 2000s — Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney — as well as Chuck Hagel, secretary of defense under former President Barack Obama. Although Obama led a predominantly Democratic administration, conservative ex-U.S. Sen. Hagel (R-Nebraska) was a Republican when he hired him to lead the Pentagon.

Rieckhoff, who served as a U.S. Army first lieutenant, said of Hegseth's Iowa visit, "These are lines that have never been crossed. With good reason. It's bad for our troops, bad for our politics, and bad for our democracy. Yet they continue to politicize our military like never before."

Rieckhoff was responding to a tweet by the Washington Post's Dan Lamothe, who noted, "Hegseth, a Pentagon official said, traveled to Iowa in his 'personal capacity.' Because of Hegseth's role, he used taxpayer-funded military aircraft for the trip."

CBS News' Jennifer Jacobs also described Hegseth's Iowa visit on X, tweeting, "Hegseth, gray shirt sleeves rolled up leaving his tattoos visible, stood under a sombrero-wearing trophy elk as he campaigned with Iowa US Rep. Zach Nunn at JRs Southpork Ranch on Monday."

At a campaign event for Nunn at the Iowa State Fair, Hegseth told the crowd, "We're restoring the warrior ethos inside our department because that matters. We need guys like this man right here having our back in Congress."

Hegseth also told attendees, "According to the lawyers, I'm only here in a personal capacity today, as a veteran and a patriotic American. I have to say that."

According to New York Times reporter Bayliss Wagner, "The appearance was another departure from previous norms for Mr. Hegseth, who in May, campaigned in Kentucky for Ed Gallrein. Mr. Gallrein went on to defeat Rep. Thomas Massie, one of Mr. Trump's most outspoken Republican critics. In past administrations, Pentagon officials generally kept a distance from campaign activities. Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at a bar on the fairgrounds, Mr. Hegseth praised Mr. Nunn, an Air Force Reserve colonel, as a key supporter of the military. Mr. Nunn, who is seeking a third term, served the Air Force for nearly two decades."