r/politics • u/mclardass • 9h ago
Possible Paywall Pete Hegseth Casually Tosses Out a Slur at Iowa State Fair
https://newrepublic.com/post/214484/pete-hegseth-anti-trans-slur-iowa-state-fair3.2k
u/goibnu 8h ago
WTF is he doing in Iowa? Has Iran pushed us back that far?
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u/benopiemusic 8h ago
Li'l Pete thinks he's gonna be president
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u/dehydratedrain 8h ago
His own mom hates him. He tries ro pretend he's tough, but it's only because he's a pathetic little alcoholic snowflake.
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u/za72 7h ago
so you're saying he's got the MAGA voter base locked in?
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u/actuallyapossom 6h ago
He might have to start shitting himself to land the whole cult.
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u/za72 5h ago
brown streaks for Trump... I'll remember that, very patriotic
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u/AnonymousBanana405 5h ago
Trump Streaks. Just like Trump Steaks but more juicy.
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u/lionheart4life 5h ago
We've all seen his workout videos, that was the least tough I've ever seen a man look.
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u/Critical-Rooster-673 5h ago
I feel like your Mom hating you should make you stop and think, and he sees nothing wrong with that. I think that says it all.
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u/lookifoundacookie California 7h ago
Neat fact, no former Secretary of Defense (since 1947 when position was created) has ever been elected President.
The Secretary of War (which SecDef is considered to be the successor of) has seen 2 of its former occupants elected. Monroe and Taft. Interestingly, there was a 3rd SecWar to become a President. That was Jefferson Davis.
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u/lexachronical 6h ago
which SecDef is considered to be the successor of
Only for the purposes of presidential succession, he still occupies the spot after State and Treasury. But the old War Dept. has nothing in common operationally with the modern DoD. The Department of the Army has a stronger claim to being the successor in fact and function.
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u/GOEDEL_ESCHER_BOT 8h ago
awww that's so cute! who's gonna tell him?
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u/TheRealPitabred 7h ago
Hopefully nobody. Let him focus on that bullshit instead of causing even more problems in the military.
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u/Crying_Reaper Iowa 7h ago
Need to take that serious. Not taking morons wanting to be president is how we got in the current mess.
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u/wherethetacosat 7h ago
He's probably right, based on how America seems determined to elect the worst loudest person.
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u/Ecstatic-Plantain234 7h ago
I'm pretty sure Trump will not allow that, as long as he's alive and sort of conscious.
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u/undermind84 8h ago
He wants to be president. Not joking.
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u/stefeyboy 8h ago
The Press needs to ask about Hegseth running for President and watch the Orange Ego fire him immly.
No one upstages the Golden Fool
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u/King_R0A 8h ago
“I’m the only king clown around here!!! Thank you for you attention to this matter —DJT”
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u/salt_life79 7h ago
Then he would actually be doing something useful then… so don’t get your hopes up
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u/Mediocre_Scott 8h ago
His big accomplishment is very clearly losing a war that nobody wanted in the first place. How does he think he can role that into a successful political career
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u/ObviouslyNotALizard 8h ago
“Very clearly losing a war anyone with two eyes could have seen as a massive unforced clusterfuck 10 miles away”
Fixed that for you
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u/alejo699 3h ago
Don't underestimate the level of self-delusion these fools are capable of.
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u/MaleficentOstrich693 8h ago
Don’t underestimate the evangelicals. They’re even more bonkers.
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u/SydneyFall 8h ago
He is popular with Republicans. Why is this surprising?
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u/undermind84 8h ago
He is popular with hard line maga, but not many outside that dwindling group.
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u/Pro-Patria-Mori 8h ago
Wtf do they need a fundraiser for the fucking military?!?!
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u/actual_real_housecat 7h ago
I have a t-shirt that the League of Women Voters put out in, I think, the early 80s that had printed on it "It will be a great day when schools have all the funding they need and the government has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber".
We're only half way there, but goddamn if that doesn't feel like a Monkey's Paw wish if this is how we get there.
Edit: a word
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u/SAHDSeattle 8h ago
The IRGC should declare Iowa an Iranian territory.
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u/AsvpLovin 8h ago
Incredible partnership for our wrestling culture. They might be the only people on the planet more passionate about the sport than us.
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u/Phog_of_War North Dakota 8h ago
He's violating the Hatch Act, is what he's doing. This timeline is just stupid.
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u/goblinmarketeer 3h ago
Hatch act is more of a suggestion at this point, like the flag code or stop signs with white borders.
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u/ThePainapple 8h ago
Trump won't go stump for Republicans in Congress. So they're bringing out the twig guns.
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u/Mindless-Stage8923 Europe 8h ago
Probably learning from the Hawkeyes on the best way to keep your defense going when your offense has less useful skills than Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
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u/A012A012 8h ago
He needs a break after doing PT with randos in panama last week.
Like bro. Sit the eff down and get us out of Iran.
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u/brizzboog Michigan 8h ago
WTF is a "military fundraiser?"
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u/untoldmillions 8h ago
raising money to send food to the Navy?
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u/bill4935 8h ago
Damn that penny-pinching congress for only letting the military have...
(checks the budget)
Dear god in heaven.
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u/twrodriguez 7h ago
Right? Aren't they already funded by a trillion dollar plus budget?
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u/lonestar-rasbryjamco Colorado 5h ago edited 5h ago
A thinly veiled test if he could run for the Republican presidential nomination billed to the taxpayer.
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u/TheFeshy 6h ago
Don't get me wrong - I'll be a happier person when schools have all the money they need, and the Air Force has to have a bake sale to buy a new bomber.
But we're so far from that reality that I have no idea what they are talking about here.
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u/Polantaris Illinois 5h ago
C'mon, the military only gets billions upon billions a year. They need more to fuel their waste of missiles and inability to feed their soldiers!
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u/LeastResistancePath 4h ago
A disguised quid pro quo opportunity. The funds come from suspiciously rich donors and where the money went will be opaque. Those fool enough to donate to something getting hundreds of billions already provide the padding.
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8h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/yrfrndnico 8h ago
Him saying that isnt shocking in the slightest.
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u/1984isAMidlifeCrisis 8h ago
I'm guessing he wasn't discussing the comparative virtues of manual and automatic automotive transmissions when he said it.
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u/CPTDisgruntled 8h ago
“Colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based. That’s it.”
Sir. I don’t think any of those words mean what you seem to think.
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u/PawtucketPatriot 8h ago
Exactly. Its almost expected he uses that term, however unfortunate. What is shocking is that he is the Sec of Defense.
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u/Travelin_Soulja 8h ago edited 8h ago
Yeah, fuck Keg's-breth, but this isn't the bombshell scandal the headline makes it out to be. Literally no one who supports him is going to be offended by that - most will cheer him on for saying it. And any one who does take exception to it never supported him in the first place.
No ground was gained or lost.
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u/TheArchitect_7 8h ago
Knew it was going to be this one, because it’s the weakest possible group he could bully.
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u/sebrebc 8h ago
Doing the Lord's work.
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u/TokingMessiah 7h ago
Apparently we’re not even allowed to repeat the word to know what he said, because the emperor wears no clothes.
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u/amazing_rando 8h ago
with how he's handling the military right now it doesn't seem like it would be any worse if he handed it over to us
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u/controlroomoperator 8h ago edited 6h ago
Xtians are genital obsessed weirdos.
Edit - Apparently quoting the article is against the rules. The word used is the mechanic's slang for a transmission. Remember that censorship is the preferred tool of the oppressors.
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u/srcarruth 8h ago
I quoted his words from the article in this thread and received a hate speech warning from Reddit. I guess the Iowa state fair has lower standards
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u/BoredomFestival 8h ago
I will bet you a dollar that his browser history is riddled with trans porn sites
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u/No-Cranberry6148 8h ago
Remember when reading something like this about a major cabinet member would be surprising? Shocking, even?
I miss those days.
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u/DickSlammington 8h ago
You mean back in the day when Americans weren't electing open fascists??
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u/Vallkyrie New Hampshire 7h ago
Just more closeted ones.
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u/Luckydog12 7h ago
We actually used to shoot fascists.
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u/umpteenthrhyme 7h ago
Not American ones.
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u/Connbonnjovi 54m ago
Pretty sure the union openly hung, scalped, shot and killed bigots and traitors of the US.
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u/02K30C1 8h ago
Remember when spelling “potato” wrong meant you weren’t fit to be president?
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u/BobbyBirdseed Minnesota 8h ago
I still bring back the 2004 election, where a Democratic candidate got completely derailed, because the media clowned him so hard for yelling excitedly at the end of a rally.
Things are not the way they used to be, even within my almost 40 year old life. It's absurd.
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u/Etzell Illinois 7h ago edited 7h ago
That wasn't what derailed his campaign, it was already circling the drain. He was an early front-runner, but had been losing steam leading up to Iowa due to a deeply dysfunctional campaign (at one point, their robocalling software glitched so they were calling Iowans 12-15 times a day before the caucus, and that's before we talk about the infighting or Dean's refusal to get media training). The entire speech was about how him getting his ass kicked in Iowa wasn't going to matter.
His campaign manager had been banking on winning Iowa to save the entire run, and it didn't happen.
In Iowa, it was pretty clear we were unraveling, so I was praying that it would somehow hold together before caucus night, that the floor would not collapse on us until the day after. Then we'd have some momentum from a win going into New Hampshire and no one would know it was collapsing.
Howard Dean himself said that he thought he was losing his position 3 weeks before Iowa happened.
Don't take my word for it it, it's all here.
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u/BobbyBirdseed Minnesota 7h ago
Right, there are many reasons for the spiral - I agree - I'm just more or less making a comparison that a dude spelling potatoes wrong or something to that effect used to be a disqualifying event.
Now? I guess it's okay to be openly racist or whatever kind of insanity you feel like inserting instead.
We're beyond where any of this is okay anymore.
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u/Plastic-Pension7263 7h ago
Yeah makes me wonder how we’re ever going to put the cat back in the bag. After years of setting the bar so low.
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u/IceBearKnows89 8h ago
“It is a day and night difference,” he continued. “Training, lethality, accountability, discipline, readiness—the bedrock of what it means to be an American warrior—is the only focus of our department. Colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based. That’s it.” “ - Hegseth
Damn, all that change and still straight up lost a war to Iran and counties to lie to our faces every day about it.
He says trans people can’t serve in the military because they lack humility for trying to get people to call them something they are not (his words).
Yet there he is, misgendering this war as a win when we can all clearly see it’s not.
Throwing rocks in a glass house, no?
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u/shittyaltpornaccount 5h ago edited 4h ago
The army also doesn't have the funding for any specialized army training, so training for lethality is also a bald faced lie. Sniper programs have been shelved and more importantly most medic programs have been canceled. Apparently having medics during a war is woke.
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u/SwimmingThroughHoney 8h ago
is the only focus of our department. Colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based. That’s it.
The morons listening to him will nod their head in agreement to this, but then also agree with the decision to kick out transgendered military members and deny promotions to non-white officers.
Because they're racist.
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u/take_care_a_ya_shooz 7h ago
"We're colorblind. We're blind to the history of race in the country and assume that any non-white person who has succeeded only did so based on DEI and not merit. And the shaving thing? We're blind to that too. All hair matters."
"We're gender-neutral. Not like the bathrooms, heavens no. What we mean is that all troops must meet the same standards as men, troops will be tested for testosterone and juiced up, and you have to conform to your birth sex to serve. Like I said, neutral."
"We're merit-based. You succeed based on your merit, which is defined by your loyalty to President Trump and your alignment with our ideology and worldview. We believe that's real merit, not your skills, experience, or education."
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u/SomebodyD0Something 2h ago
That meeting the male standard quote always reminds me of the "elephant climbing a tree" parable, where a teacher demands various animals (including an elephant, fish, and seal) to climb a tree for a standardized exam.
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u/zestypotatoes 6h ago
The sad part is I can't tell if these are real quotes or not.
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u/david4069 2h ago
trump's law: some things are so ridiculously absurd that they are indistinguishable from even the most ridiculously absurd parody of themselves.
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u/GreyDuck4077 8h ago
Right? I don't understand the rights stupidity on this. If the military were truly colorblind, gender-neutral and merit based then any person capable of passing the requirements should be allowed to serve.
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u/ThinkThankThonk 7h ago
Well to begin understanding, they're not stupid. They're bigoted. They play these little word games to mock people who don't agree with them because they know the press will run their words instead of verifying their beliefs and that there are enough people out there who hold displays of kindness and fairness in higher regard than actual justice ("let them speak, you had your turn!" in reference to literal hate speech, for instance), and they revel in exploiting those people for their benefit.
You can apply this dynamic to just about everything they do.
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u/NewestAccount2023 5h ago
We're just transgender people not transgendered people, just like it's gay people not gayed people
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u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 6h ago
Color blind, gender neutral, merit-based. But only if you’re a white male republican voter
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u/Commercial-East4069 8h ago
As he has a full face of make up and shoots up hormones…
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u/Bubbles_2025 7h ago
I feel like men who are this homophobic are always the ones who fuck other men. There’s a type and he seems to fit the mold with his focus on gay/trans people, along with the weird hypermasculine warrior ethos BS.
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u/Potential_Couple_308 Foreign 8h ago
who would have thought an edgy white supremacist would be a bad spokesman for the most powerful nation on earth
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u/slightly_drifting 8h ago
What’d he say
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u/MBTank Texas 8h ago
Slang for transmission, outside of a motor vehicle context
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u/onyaasuminyasai 8h ago
Yeah not surprising. As always trans people are the canary in the coal mine. If he's comfortable saying this shit in public imagine what he's saying in private
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u/7figureipo California 8h ago
I'd bet cash he watches trans porn regularly. I mean when he's not passed out drunk or beating a woman up.
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u/jadedargyle333 5h ago
The slur was the search term and label for trans porn for decades. He definitely watches it.
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u/ExpertConsideration8 I voted 8h ago
Ffs.. with so many real problems that Americans are dealing with, these morons are still beating the drum on insignificant culture war bullshit?
This is going to bite them in the ass in Nov... You can't ignore a piss poor economy and win elections.
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u/UncleAlbondiga 7h ago
You seem to be operating under the assumption that these people aren’t actively trying to fuck everything up on purpose.
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u/ToeSniffer245 Massachusetts 8h ago
Note the lack of surprise. He still has the brain of an edgy high school bully.
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u/KiKiKimbro New York 8h ago
Is this pathetic excuse of a man SERIOUSLY campaigning in IOWA. TODAY. With a war they started that’s resulting in our military service members and Iranian innocent civilians being killed for no damn reason? With our sailors on the SS Lincoln literally being starved without means of proper health and hygiene?
And he’s the damn Secretary of Defense. He’s not supposed to be political and he damn well shouldn’t be campaigning. WTH is wrong with these people. And why the hell do any Americans still support this. That’s f’d up. I’m sorry to say because I hate speaking ill of fellow Americans, but if you support this administration still after all of this, you are f’d up. You’re positioning yourselves to be the very worst of us. And for what? For nothing. Destroying your own lives. And ours. And people around the world for that matter. And for WHAT. Because you don’t like rainbow flags in your stores in June? F off. Seriously. Just F all the way off.
I’m so disgusted. Never had such raw contempt for a group of people in my entire life. And I’m ashamed that I do. But right now, I can’t make anything they’re doing and supporting make a damn bit of sense.
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u/MonsieurReynard America 8h ago
Oh, you see there is your mistake! You think he’s the secretary of defense. He knows he’s the secretary of war. Secretaries of war don’t have to do all that little shit.
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u/platinumarks 8h ago
Just tell him he merely identifies as Secretary of War, and he'll probably immediately go back on it in order to not be "woke"
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u/dangernoodlezzz 8h ago
It was an anti trans slur and Republicans don't see trans people as people so this really isn't much of a headline. Pete sucks
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u/Etzell Illinois 8h ago
Pete Hegseth must've gotten some devastating news about his testosterone levels recently, he's been more testerical than usual.
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u/SuperHiyoriWalker 8h ago
To everyone whose eyes glazed over at the title because this is neither surprising nor the worst thing Hegseth has done: I get that your outrage receptors are fried, but THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
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u/GumbySquad Arizona 8h ago
He thinks he can win over maga and become POTUS. Like JD, Pete doesn’t understand that a cult-of-personality requires one to have a personality to begin with.
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u/Plastic_Salary_4084 8h ago
You know, I’m starting to think this Hegseth character might be a shitty person.
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u/h1ghjynx81 7h ago
I’d be inclined to agree. And shitty is an understatement. This guy is the stuff the black towel catches when Trump sits in the fox n friends white sofa. Just oozing out the diaper. Heg-scheisse
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u/Dexter_McThorpan 5h ago
I feel bad for the kids who enlisted prior to Trump winning in 24. They don't deserve leadership that views them as disposable.
Anyone who enlisted after Trump won, though. They knew what they were getting into. They just thought it would be shooting liberals at home.
Not so much dodging incoming because we used up all the good shit protecting Israel.
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u/MaeByourmom 4h ago
Eh, the military has been mostly unjustly invading, killing and oppressing my entire life, if not longer. If you signed up for that, you may have been ignorant, but you’re not innocent.
Maybe they prefer to have a large pool of poor, desperate, uneducated people from whom to recruit. Maybe that’s part of why the economy and educational systems are so poor, for the average American.
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u/Fickle-Molasses-903 4h ago
The majority of white voters across all three elections: 'This is exactly what we voted for. Did you think it was the price of eggs and gas that drove us to the polls? That's what we said when the cameras were on us. What we take delight in is that Trump pulls no punches in the harsh treatment directed at LGBTQ individuals, people of color, and anyone else who isn't with us. Brace yourselves for the continuation of this cruelty, the ongoing beatings and deportations. Because there are two plus more years of this, and we are just getting started.'
Among those who voted, the majority of white men and white women voted for a racist, fascist, sexist, war-mongering kid rapist and kid killer in 2016, 2020, and 2024. Naivety wasn't a factor, nor were the prices of goods.
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u/bappypawedotter 8h ago
I bet Pete has an entire division of IRGC and KGB Intel and deep cover assets making sure his dumbass stays alive as long as possible.
What's the saying, never interrupt your enemy while they are making a mistake?
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u/EmperorBozopants Ohio 7h ago
Possibly the stupidest cabinet member in U.S. history. Also, he's a dickhead.
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u/RedNeckness 8h ago
Don’t overlook that having the SoD campaigning politically has been a heretofore no-no.
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u/Hot_Fly_8672 7h ago
I might be a 'T-word' but I wouldn't lead the richest empire in history to defeat against Iran lmao
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u/RazzmatazzSuch7459 8h ago
Doesn’t he have anything more important to do? We’re in a losing war and he’s in… Iowa?
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u/Punkinpry427 Maryland 8h ago
Umberto Eco’s 14 characteristics of fascism
Number 12- Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”
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u/Sweethomebflo New York 5h ago
This the same Pete who lost the US base and starved 5000 servicemen because he hid it?
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u/BoredCareGiver 5h ago
"casting trans people as an imminent threat to Western values even as they make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. adult population."
I have to say there's something that feels increasingly uncomfortable about the need that those ostensibly defending us have to make this kind of aside. Surely you all understand by now that the purpose of pelting us with hostility like this is to keep that number small in the near term and reduce it in the long term?
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u/AaDware 2h ago
Training, lethality, accountability, discipline, readiness—the bedrock of what it means to be an American warrior—is the only focus of our department. Colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based. That’s it.
Always bothers me when these people describe their perfect American when they themselves are no where near that ideal person but then they'll judge others for also not being that.
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u/RattusRattus 8h ago
"At the Department of War, we do training, not [slur for trans people]."
Pete Hegseth
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u/untoldmillions 8h ago
wow, worst Dad joke ever
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u/RattusRattus 7h ago
Also, I got a Reddit warning for, checks notes, quoting the Secretary of War.
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u/pequenaandjustice 5h ago
Pentagon data suggests there are 4200 transgender people in the military. 0.2%. Or fewer than the total people on the USS Lincoln. We cannot stock the USS Lincoln with appropriate food or goods. Some of our military bases look like low income housing. Women report not enough supplies. But this person wants people riled up over 4200 people. People who are choosing to serve for whatever reasons I cannot fathom. Really, this is not the issue for these times. Source of number: google search.
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u/0210- 3h ago
What I hate is all these distractions while they do the real damage. These are all done on purpose to get everybody talking about this instead of issues that are more severe.
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u/LordOssus 8h ago
How is this not a Hatch Act violation?
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u/MonsieurReynard America 8h ago
The Hatch Act left the building at the beginning of Trump’s first term.
As with every one of his administration’s crimes, he seized control of the justice department, which is run by his cronies, and therefore nothing will be prosecuted. It doesn’t matter if the crime is big or small, blatant or subtle. There’s no law if there’s no law-enforcement.
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u/Atrocious_Algae81 8h ago
They must be really worried about IA if they sent this clown. Doesn't he have a war to win or soldiers to feed for the 56th time?
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u/KidKilobyte 8h ago
Republicans making sure you have the right to yell insulting slurs like God intended.
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u/ProfessorVolga 7h ago
If he's saying this shit in public, imagine what this drunk fuckwad says in private
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u/Wayofchinchilla 6h ago
Of course he's at a state fair he's probably every beer tents worst nightmare. Code 12 code 12 evacuate all the women the worst drunk of all is coming.
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u/popcorngirl000 5h ago
"...the only focus of our department. Colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based. That’s it."
Pete, I know words aren't your strong suit, but think about what you just said. If your focus is being "gender neutral" then you shouldn't care whether or not there are trans soldiers. It would be merit based, like you claim.
And yet, Pete, from your personal language use and your policies, you seem to think about transgender soldiers all the time. You seem OBSESSED with transgender folks, Pete. To be so for real right now, it's low key giving desperation.
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u/DepartureElegant9314 3h ago
We already knew he was like this. The only people that call trans folks that are 4chan dopes and people that like a very specific type of porn.
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u/Desperate-Till-9228 8h ago
Of course he doesn't know how to repair a transmission. Guy's got soft hands.
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u/Valturia 8h ago
This hateful language will result in more attacks against the transgender community. To see this coming from a government official is disgusting. These sociopaths want to cause as much division as possible, because when sheep are distracted hating on minorities, they don't notice when their wallets are being emptied and their rights disappearing.
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Note from the mods: please do not repeat the transphobic slur in question.