Last week we introduced some of Trump’s cabinet picks. Marco Rubio at State, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Health and Human Services, and when we recorded it Matt Gaetz was still up for Attorney General. That one didn't last, though.

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Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, stands out among them. I don’t know if it’s the Transphobia, the Zionism, the sexual assault allegation, his complete lack of experience, or that he doesn’t believe germs are real and that climate change is a hoax.

More than a couple of those things could also be said about many of Trump’s other cabinet picks. But Hegseth is the total package.

Pete Hegseth, as an author and as a host on Fox and Friends, has regularly expressed his critical views about trans people serving in the military and is firmly against women serving in combat roles. He’s concerned that the Muslim birthrate is too high and that refugees have “infiltrated” US cities.

He writes in his 2020 book American Crusade that:

“Our present moment is much like the 11th Century. We don’t want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians one thousand years ago, we must. Arm yourself — metaphorically, intellectually, physically. Our fight is not with guns. Yet.”

In the tradition of many Christian Nationalists today, Hegseth is also tatted up with his beliefs.

We talked a little about his distinctive tattoos last time. While a member of the National Guard, he was removed from his security detail during Biden’s 2020 inauguration for some of those tattoos.

We drew our descriptions of his tattoos and their meanings from a piece in the Bulwark by our friend Thomas Lecaques. So we asked him to come back on the show so we can get a better idea of their context and try to understand what we’re dealing with.

Music:

Airglow - Spliff and Wesson (CC BY 4.0)

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