President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has defended himself after facing repeated accusations that his tattoos were associated with white nationalism.
Hegseth, whose nomination by Trump has been one of the more surprising in the past week, has been the subject of multiple articles focusing on his tattoos, An Associated Press article revealed that Hegseth had been removed from National Guard duty during President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 because a tattoo on his bicep, reading “Deus Vult”, was deemed enough to consider him a possible “insider threat.” The Latin phrase, which means “God Wills It” has been associated with the Crusades since the 1100s, but has been associated with white nationalists at times.
The Associated Press article was highlighted by vice president-elect J.D. Vance, who posted on X: “They’re attacking Pete Hegseth for having a Christian motto tattooed on his arm. This is disgusting anti-Christian bigotry from the AP, and the entire organization should be ashamed of itself.”
Vance’s post was enough for Hegseth to speak for the first time since news broke that he would be in charge of the Pentagon.
“Amen JD Vance. Anti-Christian bigotry in the media on full display,” he wrote on X.
“This type of targeting of Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop on DAY ONE at DJT’s DoD.”
Amen @JDVance. Anti-Christian bigotry in the media on full display.
They can target me — I don’t give a damn — but this type of targeting of Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop on DAY ONE at DJT’s DoD. https://t.co/TCZVWsxEAS
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) November 15, 2024
The National Guard veteran, Fox News personality, and now nominee for Trump’s secretary of defense has a number of religiously inspired tattoos, which have been the source of multiple articles in the past weeks.
The most prominent tattoo in question is a depiction of a large Jerusalem cross on his chest. Hegseth previously said the Jerusalem Cross tattoo was the one that kept him away from President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
The discourse surrounding Hegseth’s tattoos comes as former spokesman to First Lady Jill Biden Michael LaRosa implored Democrats to stop demonizing their opponents as white supremacists.
He was responding to an MSNBC guest who called Hegseth a white supremacist for opposing DEI in the military.
“This s*** has to stop,” LaRosa wrote. “Opposing DEI initiatives does not make you a white supremacist. Conversations and demonization like this are a big part of the reason we got our asses kicked.”
He added: “The answer to extremism is not more extremism. Voices like this on the left are turning the Democratic Party into a joke. We’ve got to knock it off and get serious guests who are going to diagnose politics, not make it worse. Name-calling, vilifying, and defaming nominees you oppose, even if there is very good reason to oppose them, represents everything the Democratic Party should be RUNNING away from.”
Hegseth has been nominated as secretary of defense because he is widely expected to root out DEI in the military.
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Speaking on the same podcast where he discussed his tattoos, Hegseth was asked how he would fix the military. His comments came before he was nominated.
“Well first of all you’ve got to fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and you’ve got to fire — I mean obviously you’ve got to bring in a new Secretary of Defense, but any general that was involved — general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s*** has got to go,” Hegseth said.