Hegseth Calls Female Service Members 'some Of Our Greatest Warriors' After Criticism

Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth praised women in combat during a Monday evening appearance on Fox News’s “Hannity,” backtracking on earlier comments where he suggested women should not be in combat roles.

“Some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women who serve, raise their right hand to defend this country and love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do it every single day around the globe,” he said after a series of meetings with Sen. Joni Ernst (r-Iowa), a combat veteran. 

“So, I'm not presuming anything, but, after President Trump asked me to be his secretary of Defense, should I get the opportunity to do that, I look forward to being a secretary for all our warriors, men and women, for the amazing contributions they make in our military.”

During the “Shawn Ryan Show” podcast in November, Hegseth criticized women in the armed forces and said men were more “capable.”

“I’m straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated,” Hegseth said. 

He added: “We’ve all served with women, and they’re great. But our institutions don’t have to incentivize that in places where, traditionally — not traditionally, over human history — men in those positions are more capable.” 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as well as veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), made it a point to address Hegseth’s remarks.

“They [women] do impact readiness. They make us better. They make us stronger. And again, what I’ve seen from our women is quite incredible, and I’m not — this is not hyperbole. This is fact,” Austin said in an interview with NBC News.

Hegseth spent much of last week on Capitol Hill and is back this week, meeting with senators to allay any concerns about his background, including allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive alcohol use.

Despite pushback, Hegseth and Trump have reaffirmed their willingness to continue to trek an uphill battle toward a successful Senate confirmation hearing. 

“He went to Princeton and went to Harvard. He was a good student at both. But he loves the military and I think people are starting to see it so we’ll be working on his nomination along with a lot of others,” Trump said in an interview with Kristen Welker.