'Greatest Warriors': Hegseth rails against 'misinterpreted' narrative that he is against women in the military

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Pentagon, hailed women in the military as among the “greatest warriors” after critics took issue with his comments that women were not fit to serve in combat roles.

“I also want to have an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued that I don't support women in the military, some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors are women,” he said. -he told Sean Hannity of Fox News. Monday.

Military women “love our nation, want to defend this flag, and they do it every day all over the world. I don’t assume anything,” he added.

“But after President Trump asked me to be his Secretary of Defense, if I get the opportunity, I look forward to being the secretary to all of our warriors, men and women, for the incredible contributions they make to our military.”

Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth joins Fox News' Sean Hannity. (Fox News)

Hegseth will spend this week meeting with senators on Capitol Hill to get the 50 votes he needs to get the Cabinet job.

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In a Nov. 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired just days before Hegseth, a former Fox News employee, was named secretary of defense, the candidate said, “I'm just saying we shouldn't have women in combat roles.

Hegseth claimed that women serving in combat roles “did not make us more effective, did not make us more deadly” and “made fighting more complicated.”

Hegseth noted that he was not necessarily advocating making the change at this time, commenting; “Imagine the demagoguery in Washington, D.C., if you actually argued for, you know, 'We should reduce women in combat.'”

Hegseth attends meetings at the Capitol with senators whose votes he must confirm (Anna Moneymaker)

“As a warning to everyone,” he added, “we have all served with women and they are great, it’s just that our institutions don’t need to encourage that in places where… throughout human history, men are more capable.

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He said, “I love women in the military who contribute incredibly,” but asserted that “anything about women serving together makes it more complicated and the complication in combat means the casualties are even worse.”

He also criticized the upper echelons of military leadership for changing standards and prioritize respecting diversity quotas above combat effectiveness. He pointed to a 2015 study by the Marine Corps that found that integrated male-female units performed “significantly worse” in combat effectiveness than all-male units.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of Defense, left, joined by his wife Jennifer Hegseth, attends a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., ranking member of the Senate Services Committee armed, at the Capitol Washington, Thursday, December 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (PA)

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“Between bone density, lung capacity and muscle strength, men and women are simply different,” he said. “So I'm OK if you keep the standards the way they are for everyone, and if there's, you know, a brave woman who meets those standards, awesome, cool, join the battalion of 'Infantry. But that's not the case, it's that the standards have gone down.