Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, wrote in a book that he could imagine scenarios in which the U.S. military would be used violently in domestic politics.
Hegseth, a former elite military officer turned right-wing Fox TV personality, is President Trump’s choice to head the Pentagon, which controls the vast U.S. military, the world’s largest military.
In one of his five published books, he argues that if the Democratic Party wins elections in the United States, there will be a “national divorce” in which “the military and police…will have to make a choice” and “that’s it.” I’m writing. It’s going to be some kind of civil war. ”
Hegseth’s 2020 book called out conservatives for embarking on an “American crusade” to “mock, humiliate, intimidate, and crush their left-wing opponents” and that he “incited” them. It encourages those on the left who perceive this to be the first to attack. This book “sets out the strategy we must employ to defeat America’s internal enemies.”
Hegseth’s rhetoric as a “domestic” or perceived “domestic enemy,” along with media reports highlighting his tattoo of the crusading motto “Deus Vald,” echoes Donald Trump’s claims that Hegseth will liberate U.S. troops. This may serve as a wake-up call for those concerned about repeated threats. He exercises direct control over what he called “the enemy within.”
The Guardian contacted the Trump transition team for comment from Mr Hegseth.
John Whitehouse, news director for Media Matters for America (MMFA), who followed Hegseth’s career at Fox, said Hegseth “always gave off a primitive fascist vibe,” adding, “What attracted me was the idea of going to Iraq as a crusade.” And when that didn’t work, he began to view America through the same lens. ”
Through his work, particularly in 2020’s American Crusade (AC), Hegseth paints an apocalyptic picture of American politics, encouraging his fellow right-wingers to view their opponents as existential threats.
At various points in the book, he describes leftists, progressives, and Democrats as “enemies” of freedom, the U.S. Constitution, and America, and calls for “international allies” to help defeat such “domestic enemies.” Israel is counted as one.
Addressing a conservative audience in the chapter entitled “Make the Crusades Great Again” in The American Crusades, he wrote: “Whether you like it or not, according to the false religion of the left, you are ‘infidels’ – unbelievers.” He further added: Otherwise, you can fight. ”
Later in the book, he writes: Raise tariffs. Let’s learn English. Purchased American made. Fight back. ”
Elsewhere in The American Crusade, he writes: Beyond political success, her destiny hinges on a 360-degree crusade for the cause of human freedom: exorcising the specter of a left-wing domination of education, religion, and culture. ”
In the fight, Hegseth wrote, “Our weapon is American nationalism,” adding, “The left… tries to blackmail us into thinking that nationalism is a relic of a bygone era.”
According to Snopes.com, Hegseth is following his own advice in this regard. His tattoos include the words “We the People,” taken from the Constitution, and “a stylized American flag with an AR-15 assault rifle replacing the stripes at the bottom,” he said. Report.
Regarding the media, “almost all” politicians, and qualified experts, Hegseth asks his readers to “despise, despise, loathe, distrust, take your pick of the d-word. But all of this It has to lead to action.”
Some of the actions he recommends resemble the disruption and harassment that Trump-aligned activists have wreaked on bipartisan local governments.
Hegseth tells his readers: “The next time conservative voices are suppressed in your local school, make your case by hosting a free speech sit-in in your child’s school lobby.” “The next time a local business declares a ‘gun-free zone,’ Remember, the Second Amendment allows you to carry a legally owned firearm and dare I say it’s not allowed. ”
In the wake of President Trump’s defeat in 2020, media reports have noted an increase in right-wing activists openly carrying firearms at political protests, and anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-“criticism” at school board meetings. A wave of protests has occurred, and some groups, such as Moms for Liberty, are coordinating efforts to carry out a partisan takeover of school boards.
Hegseth further advises readers: Cell phone cameras are pointed at their faces. ”
The Brennan Center for Justice reported in January that local and state elected officials have experienced a “barrage of coercive abuse” in the three years since the Jan. 6, 2021, riots. Their national survey found that more than 40% of state elected officials and 18% of local officials have experienced threats or attacks. When you include less severe forms of abuse, such as stalking and other insults and harassment, that number rises to 89% of state legislators and 52% of local government employees.
Hegseth explicitly rejects democracy in the American Crusades, characterizing it as a left-wing demand. Notice how often they use this word,” adding, “Because they hate America, they hate the Constitution, and they want to get 51 percent of the vote right away to change the Constitution.” .”
He explicitly supports election fraud through gerrymandering. Fair electoral boundaries amount to “playing nice to appease so-called centrists,” which “has been a losing strategy for patriots for decades,” he writes. Because “there are so many enemies of freedom on the other side,” Hegseth argues, “Republican Congresses should chart a legislative path that favors pro-freedom candidates and undermine the Democratic Party.” .
Hegseth repeatedly refers to the impending election in his book, writing at one point: But the real conflict, at its core, is for the soul of America. “Yes, the left-wing media and machines hate President Trump, but they hate you just as much, if not more.”
And while Hegseth entertains the prospect of Trump’s defeat, he argues that a Biden victory would shatter the United States and lead to civil war.
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In Chapter 1, “Our American Crusade,” he claims: Soon after, the years that followed would determine whether America’s experiment in human freedom, the founding of America, would die, undergo a national divorce based on irreconcilable cultural and political divisions, or return to its founding principles. will be determined accordingly. ”
Later in the book, he defines national divorce as “irreconcilable differences between left and right in America that lead to a permanent conflict that cannot be resolved through the political process.”
The idea of dividing America based on ideology is something the right has refrained from during the Trump era. Marjorie Taylor Greene recently announced her plan to separate blue and red states in response to Democratic governors who have announced that they oppose aspects of Donald Trump’s second-term policies that won him the 2024 election. He once again called for a “state divorce.”
For Hegseth, such action would necessarily involve violence.
If Biden wins, “America will decline and perish. There will be a national divorce. Outnumbered freedom-loving peoples will fight back.”
Hegseth goes on to write: “The military and police, strongholds of freedom-loving patriots, will have to make a choice. That’s not good. Yes, there will be some form of civil war.”
Hegseth agrees. “It’s a scary scenario that no one wants to see, but it would be difficult to avoid.”
Furthermore, he wrote, “If America were to be divided, freedom would have no military.”
The end of the U.S. military, which he has elsewhere called “the world’s only strong, pro-freedom, pro-Christian, pro-Israel military,” is likely due to “the rise of communist China and the global This means that the country will be in control of the Europe would formally surrender. Islamists will acquire nuclear weapons and try to wipe America and Israel off the map. ”
However, according to Hegseth, victory would mean the defeat of the combined forces of “globalism,” “socialism,” “secularism,” “environmentalism,” “Islamism,” “genderism,” and “leftism.” That’s what it means.
Hegseth has expressed unreserved loyalty to a man named Trump.
At one point in the book, he describes a conversation between the two after President Trump, at Hegseth’s urging, pardoned three military personnel indicted or convicted of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2019. are.
Hegseth explains that President Trump called him prior to the pardon, and the call “ended with a eulogy for me that will never be forgotten and may be etched on my tombstone: ‘You’re a fucking warrior. , Pete.” He’s a fucking warrior. ‘I thanked him for his courage and he hung up. ”
Whitehouse, the MMFA press director, said that although Hegseth has long advocated for changes in defense policy, including the abolition of female combatants, Trump chose him because “they have similar ties to conservative media.” Because I know that they are doing well and I trust them.” audience”.
“We know that Mr. Trump, Mr. Hegseth, and even J.D. Vance will go along with what their right-wing audiences want when push comes to shove,” he added. “Would he object to an order to have a military attack on protesters? It probably depends on what they think the audience wants at the time.”
Hegseth leaves readers with the following promise: With God’s help, together we will save America. Deuswald! ”
