When you have a guy whose Nebuchadnezzar-like values system gets blurred by his followers into Biblical evidence of God’s favor, you know that the world is truly upside down here in America. Donald Trump’s not the only one contributing to chaos, but he’s the president, and when this president stocks a cabinet with conformists to his version of reality, you end up with the Pete Hegseth debacle.
In a Signal chat with national security officials that included – apparently inadvertently – a journalist, the Secretary of Defense disclosed sensitive military information about an as-yet undertaken military strike.
“The updates Hegseth was giving in the Signal chat were the kind of real-time play-by-play that a commander would be giving to the president in a highly classified setting as the operation unfolded.
‘These are operational plans that are highly classified in order to protect the service members,’ [a defense official explained].”
Subsequently, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic Magazine, the journalist on the Signal chat, wrote this: “On Monday, shortly after we published a story about a massive Trump-administration security breach, a reporter asked the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, why he had shared plans about a forthcoming attack on Yemen on the Signal messaging app. He answered, ‘Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.’
For more context, from Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant Defense secretary under the first Trump administration, who told Politico: “You do not need to be a member of the military or intelligence community to know that this information is exactly what the enemy would want to know. And it does clearly put our military members at risk.” Even Fox News’s Brit Hume, who reposted a video of Hegseth’s comments on the social platform X and wrote, “Oh for God’s sake.”
But that’s what you get in this administration, where cabinet officials like Hegseth start with the proposition of fealty to Trump, not to the country, to the alternative reality that he embodies, not the truth, and to the virtue of unaccountability, the very cornerstone of MAGA, where iconography supplants fact.
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Pete Hegseth, a prominent conservative commentator and host on Fox News, has recently made headlines for his efforts to hold former President Donald Trump accountable for his actions. Hegseth, who has been a vocal supporter of Trump in the past, has taken a more critical stance towards the former president in recent months.
One of the key issues that Hegseth has been focusing on is Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hegseth has criticized Trump for downplaying the severity of the virus and not taking stronger action to combat its spread. He has also called out Trump for his controversial statements about the virus, such as suggesting that injecting disinfectant could be a potential treatment.
In addition to his criticism of Trump’s pandemic response, Hegseth has also been vocal about other aspects of Trump’s presidency. He has raised concerns about Trump’s rhetoric and behavior, particularly his use of social media to spread misinformation and attack political opponents.
Hegseth’s willingness to hold Trump accountable has earned him praise from some quarters, but has also drawn criticism from Trump’s supporters. Some have accused Hegseth of betraying Trump and abandoning his conservative principles.
Despite the backlash, Hegseth remains steadfast in his commitment to holding Trump accountable. He believes that it is important for conservatives to speak out when they believe that their leaders are not living up to their values.
Overall, Pete Hegseth’s efforts to hold Donald Trump accountable represent a growing trend among conservatives who are willing to criticize their own party leaders when they believe it is warranted. Whether or not this trend will continue remains to be seen, but Hegseth’s actions serve as a reminder that no leader is above scrutiny and criticism.
