Trump's Pentagon chief nominee an avid Islamophobe, extremist

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Washington Post
15 Nov 2024 14:57

Pete Hegseth has not shied away from sharing his extreme views regarding Muslims and Islam, women and minorities in the military, and the inclusion of people of color.

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President Donald Trump appears on Fox & Friends co-host Pete Hegseth at a Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 6, 2017. (AP)

Donald Trump's nominee for the position of Pentagon chief, Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth, has previously vigorously expressed his Islamophobic views, prompting questions regarding his suitability for a rank that demands explicit and vital cooperation with a wide and diverse set of individuals.

Pete Hegseth's history encompasses a wide array of extremist, particularly Islamophobic, misogynistic, and racist views, raising fears about the nature of Trump's potential administration and policies, The Washington Post wrote.

Hegseth calls for violence against Muslims

According to The Washington Post, Hegseth authored the 2020 book "American Crusade", which heavily attacked Muslims [migrants and refugees] and accused them of infiltrating US society, feeding off the government, while simultaneously incriminating the religion as one of violence.

He characterized Islam as a force of terror and destruction which seeks to subordinate or kill the rest of the world. Claiming that Muslim countries were automatically a "no-go zone" for Christians and Jews, Hegseth alleges that Muslims, alongside Western liberals and "squish republicans" aim at conquering the world and destroying "Judeo-Christian institutions."

Presenting a naive argument on how this conquest will be manifested, Hegseth claims that as Muslims integrate themselves into Western society, their birth rates must multiply in numbers greater than native citizens', paving the way for the reshaping of said societies.

He gave the example of the United Kingdom and the rate of Muslims in its population, as well as the election of a number of Muslim officials in governmental positions, warning that the US would suffer a similar fate.

In light of the "cultural invasion", as Hegseth portrays it, he advocated for violence against the Muslim community, claiming that Christians are forced to fight and arm themselves, metaphorically, intellectually, and physically. "Our fight is not with guns. Yet," he wrote.

It is worth noting that Trump heavily relied on Muslim voters, which ultimately won him the presidency. As the Muslim-American community grew increasingly dissatisfied with Kamala Harris' support of "Israel", the genocide in Gaza, and the war on Lebanon, Trump appealed to their votes by vowing to end the wars in the Middle East.

However, despite his promises, Trump's recent picks for his administration include a concoction of staunch pro-"Israel" or anti-Muslim nominees, such as Hegseth, Mike Huckabee, and Marco Rubio.

All other kinds of -isms, phobias

Trump's pick also has a long history of criticizing Democratic policies that sought to promote the inclusion of women, people of color, and other minorities in key factions of society, including the military.

According to Hegseth, drafting women, homosexuals, or transgender people in the military would lead significant national security risks due to their alleged incompetence and the distraction of national duties in favor of a "woke" army.

He argued that men were "physically superior" to women, further justifying his rejection of a female-integrated military. When it comes to race, Hegseth presented discriminatory views by questioning the competence of Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Brown, who is African American, worked on diversifying the Air Force, which Hegseth coined as "racist and illegal". The former army veteran accused Brown of compromising defensive readiness, saying "The tragedy of these emotionally stunted, angry, race-based people is that they have an ax to grind — and will grind it."

He further claimed that members of the force would be promoted in a show of inclusivity and tolerance based on their race rather than their competence.

"Strong, skilled, dedicated men come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Men don’t give a s--- what your skin color is, as long as you get the job done," he wrote.