Pete Hegseth - Secretary of Defense Nominee | SRS #143

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Pete Hegseth is a television host, bestselling author, and U.S. Army veteran known for his role on Fox & Friends Weekend. After graduating Princeton and Harvard, he served in the Army National Guard with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars. His military experience informs his advocacy for veterans, national security, and patriotic values.

Hegseth is also a New York Times bestselling author of "In the Arena," "American Crusade," and his latest book, "The War on Warriors," where he critiques American politics, media and education. Known for his direct style, he remains an active voice in media and has led veterans' advocacy groups like Concerned Veterans for America.

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Pete Hegseth Links:
Book “The War on Warriors” - https://www.foxnews.com/books/the-war...
Website - https://petehegseth.com
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Pete will be hosting the 6th annual FOX Nation Patriot Awards on December 5th - https://www.foxnews.com/media/fox-nat...

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00:00 - Introduction
00:21 - Discussing the VA and Veterans' Issues
20:11 - The War on Warriors: Book Introduction
21:13 - Military's Shift and Wokeness
50:56 - Trump's Support for War Fighters
53:23 - Women in Combat Roles Debate
01:21:07 - China's Strategic Threat
01:42:01 - Public Education System Pitfalls
02:07:34 - Homeschooling and Alternative Education Models
02:12:26 - Challenges and Solutions for Single Parents
02:26:59 - Final Thoughts

Transcript

Introduction
0:00
[Music]
0:05
Pete he Seth welcome to the show man Sean thanks for having me it's good to finally uh see in person I see on TV all
0:11
the time but uh likewise if I had a dollar for every person that do you know Sean Ryan that guy's the man I'd be a
0:18
rich man so thanks for making this happen very cool very cool well you got a new book out the war on Warriors I
Discussing the VA and Veterans' Issues
0:24
definitely want to talk about that let's do uh let's talk about the educational system and then we had a mini
0:30
conversation about uh Tim wal and uh so
0:35
we'll talk about his background as well and what uh you know about that cuz I haven't had uh a minute to dive into
0:42
everything he's claiming yeah lately so but I figured if anybody knows it's you
0:47
so uh starting off with a quick down and dirty introduction Pete heg Seth husband
0:54
father Patriot and a Christian man you're an army veteran of Iraq Afghanistan onono Bay earning two bronze
1:02
stars and a combat infantry badge you are most known for being the coast host
1:07
of Fox and Friends Weekend and of multiple series on Fox Nation you're the author of The New York Times bestseller
1:15
battle for the American mind you recently wrote a book called the war on Warriors behind the Betrayal of men who
1:22
keep us free you served as CEO of Concerned Veterans of America what is
1:27
that it's a veterans advocacy organization what do you guys concentrate on WE concentrated on trying to get the VA in the business of
1:35
actually serving vets instead of serving the bureaucracy nice yeah are you guys making Headway well I'm not I'm not
1:41
doing it anymore the organization's still around yeah we made some huge Headway um during the Trump
1:46
Administration the the accountability Act and the choice act that he was a part of were I don't know if yeah I
1:52
think it'd be pretty fair to say we were the brainchild of those um behind the scenes put out just pushing hard the
1:58
idea that um the VA doesn't exist to perpetuate its own bureaucracy by spending more money the veteran should
2:04
be at the center and and and and if you're a [ __ ] VA employee and you're jacking around on company time you
2:10
should be able to be fired just anywhere else in life so are they getting fired now uh mostly
2:18
not um hold on let me say no mostly not because of course the bureaucracy fought
2:25
against it in every single way all the government unions came out against it even though it was passed it was used in
2:31
some very narrow instances but for the most part especially under Biden they've brought all the Civil Service
2:36
protections against the law by the way the law states you can fire they just choose not to because all even all the
2:42
political appointees abide by the rules of the unions and so they want to play nice and so even though they could
2:48
expedite firings of va officials who are I don't know like watching porn at work or like not serving vets in a timely
2:54
manner they usually don't so it's it's the is the right thing to do I think it could be reapplied under Trump very effectively frankly across government
3:01
but most importantly at the VA but in the hands of Democrats they're not doing anything with it oh figure and you
3:07
currently serve in the individual ready Reserve well I did as of not anymore I'm
3:12
out now congratulations congratulations do you go let's talk
3:19
about the VA do you go to do you go to the VA I do not I don't either no why do
3:24
you think why do you think the bureaucrats are fighting so hard just to
3:30
like what's what's the problem like why don't they want to fix the [ __ ] VA well it's it's a permanent feeding
3:36
trough and you know you see of of of high-paying jobs uh and stable jobs that
3:43
you can't be fired from at with an upper echelon of brass numbering in the thousands that get paid more than you
3:49
know the chairman of the Joint Chiefs uh and they're great easy comfy jobs many of which are now remote even at the VA
3:57
uh since Co they've never come back uh and then the problem is it's a feedback loop you know we you and I would
4:02
probably talk a lot about the military-industrial complex all these uh outside the companies that influence the
4:08
way we procure weapons and way we fight well there's a veterans industrial complex too uh and you know the
4:14
traditional names the VFW the legion Amvets um you name them um they've got
4:20
big offices in Washington DC and they are invested in one thing namely a
4:26
bigger VA budget a bigger VA budget means more progr programs that they collaborate with they say it is to serve
4:32
their members but if you talk to their members which is what we actually did in the organization it's like hey we don't care what VFW headquarters thinks we
4:39
care what the post level thinks what do those guys think they're saying hey why am I driving 200 miles to go to some
4:47
hospital where I'll wait for months for an appointment when I could be seen inside my own Community if the dollars
4:52
followed me and I wanted to do that locally well the VA hates that because it would heaven forbid their budget
4:58
might reduce or their facilities might not be used as robustly then they don't keep getting the money well then the
5:04
Vets groups don't don't benefit as much from that so it's a typical swampy
5:09
feedback loop the politicians don't really know how the VA works and so they just want a good press conference and
5:14
that means just writing bigger checks the whole thing never but they get to feel good about it right oh I support the Vets I I support funding for the VA
5:22
but is the VA working like can you get in on time usually the healthcare is actually pretty good at the VA once you
5:27
get in once you get to see a doctor once you have a stable relationship with a doctor but getting through and getting
5:33
in is half the challenge and so it's it's a big problem man I went there one
5:40
time one time well I I guess more than once but after I got you know my
5:46
benefits benefits I went there one time for an appointment and I was like I'll buy my
5:53
own health insurance like this no I'm not doing this I don't need any more pills sorry thank you I've only heard
6:00
one thing good come out of the VA and that's have you heard of this Dr freeze guy yes he's um he's uh written a book
6:08
on that they're calling this it's like an I don't I'm going to butcher this so whoever's listening that knows about
6:13
this don't kill me here but it's it's like another it seems to me like they've
6:22
repurposed not repurposed it's a different PTSD I guess is Bally
6:28
basically what I'm saying called operat syndrome and they're tying in PTSD with
6:33
traumatic brain injuries but not like massive traumatic brain injuries like stuff You' get from shooting a Carl
6:39
gusta or slapping breacher charges on doors a lot um I'm not talking like a
6:45
big VB ID or something uh sleep dep and they're tying it all into like this new
6:52
form of PTSD it sounds pretty interesting and well dude if that's what
6:58
the VA exists to do yeah well right specialize on stuff for guys that saw
7:05
things that the outside world doesn't really understand and and focus on delivering the care that those guys and
7:10
gals need but we right now we fund a a VA bureaucracy a healthc care system
7:16
that you know I mean the outside world does a good job treating diabetes the outside world does a good job treating
7:21
cancer does those aren't necessarily veteran specific illnesses so if the VA
7:27
would specialize more on the things it does really well it's comparative advantage and you fund those things and
7:32
then you you don't have to have the country's largest Healthcare System not that's not run very well and instead you
7:38
allow the private private Market to provide for vets that can be seen in a timely manner that's we wrote a whole report on it called the fixing veterans
7:44
Healthcare task force it feels like forever ago it was like 2014 it was a bipartisan deal um and that's exactly
7:51
what we said that's where the name came from I don't know exactly what he did does exactly but these those folks that
7:57
specialize and do it best they're the ones that should be the focus um and then on the General Health Care side
8:03
that can that can be done other ways yeah what would you personally like to see happen in the VA or to the
8:11
VA I well first of all I would um that's a great question uh and we
8:19
wrote a whole report on it and I guess in a perfect world I would
8:25
have like I just said I would have it focus on its core Mission and then I would the critics would say oh you want
8:32
to privatize the VA that's not the idea the idea is to effectively let the dollars follow the veteran so and there
8:39
is the mission act did that that Trump passed which the VA is trying to squelch
8:45
um what is the problem with privatizing the VA I mean all of the as far as I
8:52
know and I've interviewed a lot of vets that have done a lot of kind of wazu off-the-wall treatments that actually
8:57
work but all these all these treatments that are making major Headway like psychedelics y um
9:05
none of this is being developed from within the VA it's all private a lot of
9:11
it's out of the country we can't even do the [ __ ] that helps us in the country
9:16
I'm one of them I did uh psychedelics uh I did ibigan in Mexico
9:21
and I me changed my life in in so many different ways I haven't had a drop of
9:26
booze in 2 and A2 years I didn't even go down there for that and um way more in the moment with my family
9:34
anyways whatever uh none of these non-traditional treatments or things
9:40
that are working for for traumatic brain injury PTSD anxiety all these things that are you
9:48
know that that the guys are dealing with coming out none of it's none of it's being cured by the
9:53
VA none of it big surprise the government is not uh here to help and problem why would anybody other than I
10:02
get the VA employees and the bureaucrats within it but why would anybody be
10:07
against privatizing veteran Healthcare it's just better health let me tell you this uh you're that's exactly right
10:13
nothing you said is wrong uh I I was in 2016 I was under consideration by Trump
10:20
to be his VA secretary nice I was interviewed multiple times in fact I was down to the final two and um you know go
10:27
up to Trump Tower up the elevator sit with with them talk about it and ultimately I think he thought I was a
10:33
little young and all that but I remember he called me at one point in the process and he said um Pete I want to pick you I
10:41
want to pick you but there's one problem why do all the veterans groups hate
10:46
you and he sort of I sort of laughed and he goes no but like they hate you and
10:51
I'm like well Mr President let me tell you why because outside the box thinking
10:57
of say providing private choice for veterans is a threat complete threat to the
11:03
ecosystem around the government bureaucracy and the VA and the veterans groups they exist to defend their
11:09
territory and they'll say oh it's for the betterment of the Vets what if vets are getting better treatment from non-conventional places why aren't we
11:16
exploring that well the bureaucracy can't handle that well it's not the existing system it's not where most of the money comes from it doesn't support
11:23
the bricks and motor facilities that they want to keep the the importance becomes keeping
11:28
the facil ities as opposed to what is the treatment that the Vets are getting so I had plenty of I know I had
11:34
overwhelming support from veterans across the country who were thankful that who believed that veterans choice
11:41
would unshackle them from driving 400 miles for a basic treatment when they could get it 10 miles from their house
11:46
and the government pays for it or the idea that if you're abusing a vet a VA official should be fired so the
11:52
solutions are simple it's choice and accountability PE vets have choice and
11:58
and people that aren't doing their job doing it poorly get fired uh but government doesn't do either of those things yeah and so if you're going to do
12:04
that you better be ready to go to the mat in a way that's uglier than I think people can imagine everyone looks at the
12:10
veteran space and says can't we get along can't we all agree that we love vets of course well if it's not if we're
12:17
spending more I mean the VA has a the the budget of the VA is twice the size of the Marine Corps it's a massive
12:25
massive yes it's huge it's the second largest Federal uh Department the federal government it's absolutely
12:30
what's number one the dod D and VA and yet VA you can't be
12:37
seen in a timely manner and you're treated like a number and and the warm DC just hides behind the Warm Glow of
12:43
all that so I hope all these traditional veterans organizations watch this they know what what traditional veterans
12:49
organizations are you talking about americ leg the VFW talking about the VFW
12:55
I'm talking about um Amvets was good at one time but Amvets talking about Disabled American Veterans I'm talking
13:01
about Paralyzed Veterans of America all the pamphlets you see on the VA all what you're talking about it's the funny hats
13:08
crowd yeah yes and I and I respect them their service all of that but they're
13:14
they don't serve the interest of their members it's just like the unions like when you go why does Donald Trump have
13:20
overwhelming support from union members but yet the union bosses keep endorsing Joe Biden it's because they don't
13:27
actually reflect at some point in Washington Wasington DC the interests of their members they lose touch with the
13:32
interest of their members because it becomes about perpetuation and so I I've worked with I'm a member of the Legion
13:39
in my hometown a force Lake Minnesota post 225 like you know I signed up right after I got back from my first tour um
13:46
and I but I don't have any affinity for it other than that and it's not I know
13:51
that in Washington DC they're not actually trying to fight for reform or real overhaul at the VA they just have a
13:57
they have a seat at the table and they like that seat man I didn't even realize those nonprofits were uh even relevant anymore
14:05
I thought that kind of died with the Vietnam generation I mean I joined too and I went in there and then I was like
14:11
I'm just drinking with a bunch of combat veterans you w the free chicken wings and beer and then I never went back know
14:20
but that's you're exactly right they don't have any power except in Washington in Washington they still have
14:26
a lot of power you know why cuz they'll put out press releases and press releases are like gold little
14:31
snowflakes in Washington and they'll also have packs and they also give money uh and they'll show up at press
14:37
conferences behind you with in the uniform saying we support and they love to be bipartisan because they don't want
14:44
to be pigeon hold as one or the other and so they'll they support everything that is just more money for the status
14:50
quo damn that's sad do you think we'll ever see any you think it'll ever
14:56
improve over there Trump tried and I think you will again I really do there's just there was so much currency he had
15:02
to spend in so many different places in a first term and he got a lot done on the mission act which is choice and VA
15:08
accountability and he's got great people on the outside watching what Biden has done and I think when they come back in
15:14
God willing um that there's a lot of overhaul to be had
15:20
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can't just go to a doctor if you have an emergency that's not at the VA at least as far as I know correct that's that's
18:04
what they were trying to change and once it's a huge budget what it's it's why
18:11
would they want to spend that money on guys like us who they don't need
18:16
anymore it's a fair point you know I just I don't trust them Pete no I think
18:22
you reflect I mean I don't I don't know tell find me a vet who does who isn't in Washington DC look at the oxy problem
18:27
the opiate problem a lot of that was initiated by the VA all they handbags of
18:32
pills here's a grocery sack full of drugs hope you feel better mhm maybe
18:37
he'll kill himself and then we can pull him off the books or maybe he'll kill himself in the VA parking lot yeah which
18:43
has happened time and time again yeah because that's what uh naively or basically you would expect well I went
18:49
to fight for my country at the very least they could take care of me when I come home and then they meet a brick wall of numbers uh of of of they're just
18:58
a number nobody gives a damn and um it's too much yeah that's even if he can get in correct you know most people can't
19:05
even get in but um all right we've we've pounded the VA to a pulp here it's one
19:10
of my favorite things to pound yeah me too me too everybody gets a gift on the show you ready
19:18
okay it's my uh Shameless I knew this was coming you did yeah I did are you a
19:23
gummy seen it enough absolutely I would consider myself a gummy a ific shinado now probably not as
19:30
much as you but I'm always looking for the softest chewiest best gummy bears
19:37
those are it I wouldn't eat those don't eat them 30 minutes before you go on the air though I'm just kidding are they
19:43
those kind of gummy bears no no they're legal in all 50 states they're good to go I'm going to try one right
19:52
now well they smell good yeah I find that the generic ones are often the
19:57
softest they're good let me know what you
20:05
think excellent not bad huh I didn't know you were in the gummy bear business though I am I am H but uh well let's
The War on Warriors: Book Introduction
20:12
move on to I'm just I was going to save this to the end cuz this is what I'm most excited to talk about but let's
20:19
talk about the war on Warriors let's talk about the book where are you going with this well the idea of the book I
20:26
would say you know I wrote a book about education I've written some books about politics and it just didn't feel like
20:32
the right time to kind of assess where we were in the military especially after 20 years of of more or
20:39
less ongoing combat and you know it takes a while for the dust to clear and to get a sense of like hey what happened
20:46
where but then things you know under Obama but really after Trump and then in Biden you start
20:52
to look around you say wow and it happened really fast it happened slowly and then it happened fast you start to
20:57
realize this institution that I love that I gave so many years to that you gave so many years to and I say that
21:03
humbly because I did far less than so many you know I did my one little thing that as part of a bigger effort over 20
21:10
years but it's this institution is going sideways uh it doesn't and you hear time
Military's Shift and Wokeness
21:15
and time again um which institution the Department of Defense the military the Army um pick your service um and and it
21:24
started with a central question the book would I want my kids would I
21:31
recommend my kids join the Army today or the military today um and that used to be an open and shut case for me it used
21:37
to be absolutely hell yeah like I want my kids to have the kind of ethos where they would um and i' we've got a blended
21:44
family of five boys and two girls so that's a real question you know oldest is 14 youngest is seven like they're not
21:50
that far away from having the opportunity to make that decision would I recommend that and it used to be of
21:55
course I would and over the last couple of years it became clear like I I would
22:00
I I I don't know and you talk to more and more guys and they're having the same they're either hell no or they're
22:08
saying yeah I for the first time in my life you know I'm in the family business it was my dad my grandfather we they all
22:13
served and I'm second guessing whether I want my kids to and so I actually the
22:19
book kind of helped me figure that out and I the last chapter of the book is a letter to my boys about whether I would
22:26
want them to serve but and and I can I can lay that out but I didn't write that chapter until the end so I wrote the
22:32
whole book and then I was like okay I want to look at the depth of what's happening to our Warriors because it's
22:38
it's not the book isn't just how the military went woke um there's plenty of those examples and we feature them
22:44
prominently on Fox and you've seen them and the just the nonsense the deeper question is how did
22:49
the military allow itself to go woke how did our general class how did our our
22:56
our our military acmy um how did military leaders who are
23:02
suspected live by an ethos and a code who they're in the job of of meritocracy
23:09
and lethality um of Excellence of no excuses of equality and unity not equity
23:17
and diversity is our the dumbest phrase on planet Earth in the military is our
23:23
diversity is our strength it's it's our Unity is what unites us our
23:29
Unity of effort our our ability to say yes we're different but we come together as a team to accomplish a mission so I
23:35
spent the better part of a year and a half um talking to vets and and not just vets but connecting through a network of
23:42
a lot of guys I know I spent I host my show on Friday Saturday and Sunday in New York so I've got Saturday afternoon
23:48
wide open and I spent for months my Saturdays just on the phone off the Record uh anonymously with guys in
23:55
service so senior listed Junior listed Junior officers senior officers all
24:00
branches Moss's eras but but mostly guys in right now U generals privates and all
24:09
the same themes came out you know standard of dropping um the woke stuff
24:14
is everywhere I feel like I'm walking on eggshells I heard that all the time eggshells I'm a commander I walk on
24:20
eggshell I train commanders they're walking on eggshells they they're they're afraid of one
24:26
misstep on one identification or one gender thing or one racial thing or one trans thing uh and the priorities are
24:33
upside down on what the units are focusing on and every single one of those
24:38
distractions means we're less good at our job um which is supposed to be closed with and destroy the enemy on behalf of our nation and bring our boys
24:44
home uh that's all I care about that's what I want a military focused on um and
24:50
so yeah I tell a few my own stories in the book but it book's not about me at all how do you think that this is
24:57
happening well it's a long story so the the well I
25:02
think it's because they're idogs who want to bring a meritocracy to heal that's where I think it starts I think
25:08
you have um politicians who don't want to tolerate an institution first they
25:14
want to use it to Tinker and then they also don't want to tolerate an institution that's antithetical to their
25:19
social um experiments because the military you know I me the book lays this out of course like the integration
25:26
of the military racially was a huge success um it was a huge success because black men and Hispanic men and others
25:32
can perform just as well as white guys uh in any capacity that they're given so the reality of Life reinforced that the
25:39
bigotry we saw on the outside should not be tolerated inside the military and the military did a great job doing that um
25:46
but now we're pushing boundaries and lots of different levels that are different than that because men in women
25:52
are different uh because being transgendered in the in the military causes complications and differences uh
26:00
and the book kind of lays out the common arguments that that those on the the left or others make which are baked in
26:07
social social justice so it started you know you saw it under Clinton with the tinkering of don't ask don't tell and the reasons for those changes and I
26:13
talked to some of the people involved in when that was changed uh but it really happened started to accelerate under
26:19
Obama and you saw it with you saw the trans stuff come at the end of the Obama Administration you saw the women in
26:24
combat come at the end of the Obama Administration it's because they looked around at the bureaucracies that they
26:30
controlled in Washington and the one that was uh that they didn't control the Obama spent a disproportionate amount of
26:36
time focusing on the the Pentagon they were skeptical of leadership and eventually brought in political
26:42
appointees and Generals who would do their bidding the way they wanted which as you know in a tap down organization
26:47
changes the ethos of the whole thing so the book is meant to pull the whole curtain back mostly from Obama forward
26:56
and explain how the the army that I enlisted in or that I swore an oath in
27:01
2001 and was commissioned in 2003 looks a lot different than the army of today
27:07
uh because we're focused on a lot of the wrong things I mean you know this you could
27:13
you could talk about all day I bet we could I'm trying to organize my thoughts here figure out what rals to go down but
27:19
um I mean I mean they've been wildly successful in morphing the military into
27:27
this whatever you want to whatever whatever you want to call it then I do
27:32
want to do you want to talk about I don't want to forget about having your kids join the military maybe we end with
27:39
that CU I have a lot of thoughts on that too but I mean I I don't know man I mean
27:44
I I think about this all the time I mean you you know you watch the show I've had active duty guys on I've had I've had
27:52
the most badass American warriors that we've ever produced on on the show and
27:59
everybody says the same thing they don't all say it on camera cuz it Doesn't uh uh we don't always go into that but but
28:07
I do ask them you know all of them like how is it how is it in there you know the especially the guys that just got
28:13
out they're all disgusted they're all demoralized totally I feel like this the
28:19
gas really got turned on when when when the defund the police movement
28:25
happened I knew it was going to bleed in because I thought the defund the police I was like this isn't about this [ __ ]
28:32
they want to rid the Le agencies of the Old Guard because they all think alike
28:40
they do a damn good job and so let's destroy it and rebuild it with a new
28:45
mindset and that happened I think that happened do you think it happened yes I do I mean if you if you look at the back
28:51
cover of the book it says I joined the army to fight extremist in 2001 uh 20 years later that same Army labeled me
28:57
one yeah so I got out because and I I I could tell the story or not but I I was
29:04
deemed a extremist because of a tattoo by my National Guard unit in Washington DC and my orders were revoked to guard
29:12
the Biden inauguration but all of this so you have what happened with George FL what a punishment I know it's
29:19
actually you put it that way you're exactly right you you're exactly right um you know but you had the George Floyd
29:25
riots and then you had I was also in the DC guard during the what happened in front of the White House you remember
29:30
the Insurrection that no one calls an Insurrection outside the White House when they you know burned the church down and and got to the gates of the
29:37
White House I was there the second night through the fifth night of all of that I was a 04 major holding a riot shield
29:43
because they didn't have enough guys so we were just out there doing our thing and and explain a little bit about that
29:48
that happens then January 6th happens and both of those moments become
29:53
pretenses for the dod with political appointees who've long since been
29:59
burrowed in and Generals who are all in for the politically correct agenda they maybe kept their head down during Trump
30:05
because he didn't want to hear about it guys like Millie um guys like Austin they were right there waiting in the
30:11
wings ready to go and once the combination of Floyd and January 6th happened they went all in on Dei and CRT
30:19
and transformation focusing on Patriot extremism uh that's we talk all about
30:25
that in the book you know gadston flags are are signed of radicalism get the bumper sticker off your car uh you know
30:32
a uh Jerusalem cross tattoo which is just a Christian symbol is that the ex this this is the one right here this one
30:39
is uh is what got me uh disinvited or my I'd never had orders revoked before I
30:45
mean listen it's a standard deal you remember after January 6th everyone was in Washington DC like Nancy Pelosi had
30:51
the parking garage is full of national Guardsmen the fence was up I was going
30:56
and my commander called me a day before tepidly and was like uh major you can
31:03
just stand down we we don't need it we're good I'm like what do you mean everybody's there he's like no no no we're he couldn't tell me uh and then of
31:09
course when I was writing the book I reached out to somebody in the unit who could confirm with 99.9% certainty
31:14
because he was on in the meetings and on the emails nope someone inside the DC guard trolled your social media found a
31:21
tattoo used it as an excuse to call you a white nationalist an extremist and you
31:27
were specifically by name orders revoked to guard the inauguration um because you
31:33
were considered a Potential Threat how is that it's a cross it's a it's a
31:40
Christian symbol that's all it is there's a lot of guys but I got a Christian symbol here I got you know no
31:46
it because it wasn't about that it was about I don't know was it I'm too conservative is it because I'm Trump
31:52
supporter uh is it because I was a I was a reporter on January 6th they want you
31:58
there so that maybe I worked at Fox maybe that's what it was they just they had decided Pete Heth is not qualified
32:05
to to guard the inauguration of a Democrat president which is ridiculous because I volunteered to go to
32:11
Afghanistan under Barack Obama I'm no Democrat but I believed I was hopeful
32:16
the surge in Afghanistan might work and I volunteered to go in 2011 2012 so it's never been about for guys like you and
32:22
me it's never been about Republicans and Democrats it's been about the Republic and that's all
32:28
been it's all been put into question for every in everyone's mind and it so
32:35
there's a chance to course correct it but uh it would take the new a new Trump Administration going after it really
32:41
hard how would they correct it well first all you got to fire um you know you got to fire the chairman of Joint
32:47
Chiefs and you got to fire this I mean obviously you're going to bring in a new secretary of defense but any general that was involved General Admiral
32:52
whatever that was involved in any of the Dei woke [ __ ] it's got to go like either you're in for war fighting that and
32:59
that's it and that's the only litus test we care about uh you got to get Dei and CRT out of Military Academy so you're
33:05
not training young officers to be baptized in this type of thinking uh and then you know whatever the standards
33:11
whatever the combat standards were say and I don't know 1995 let's just make those the standards and as far as
33:17
recruiting to hire the guy that you know did Top Gun Maverick and creat some real ads that motivate people to want to
33:23
serve uh and there's lots of other ways in which you could identify who gets
33:29
promoted and what but there's an ethos change I mean there there's a reason we're not people don't want to serve because they don't trust that their
33:36
senior leaders are going to have their best interest in mind in combat I know there were mistakes made on on our tours
33:42
all over the place but I at least for the most part had a sense that my senior leaders were committed to the completion
33:51
of the mission for the right reasons and maybe there were strategic differences and all that other stuff and it wasn't always perfect but I and that that trust
33:59
is broken and you have to reestablish that trust by by putting in non-nonsense Warf fighters in those positions who
34:05
aren't going to cater to the socially correct garbage I mean do you don't think we need to gut the entire institution you
34:13
think this is just coming from the top down I think right now it's a top my assessment based on talking to I mean is
34:21
that it's a top down bottom up problem is that you've got top down political generals who've gained GED Rank by
34:28
playing by all the wrong rules that cater to the idealogues in Washington DC and so they'll do any social justice
34:36
gender climate extremism crap because it gets them checked to the next level and
34:42
gets them closer to the political appointees who don't know anything about the military really other than they want
34:48
a new first here and a new first there and can we get the first trans this or whatever that just nonsense and then now
34:55
you have a junior Corp which listen their incentive structure whether it was in university or at uh service cies or
35:03
just coming through college is belief in these things that diversity is our strength that Equity that the standards
35:09
could be racially biased that showing up on time is a social construct that all all these so if you spend enough time
35:16
with those two things meeting you you could have a wholesale takeover the defense department I do think there's still a core of mostly
35:24
silent you know they also pushed out a lot of vaccine folks because of the vaccine obviously that's I think that's
35:30
another one like a purge engineered as well a purge of people that's a purge of people of conscience if you if you have
35:36
enough of a conscience whether it's faith belief or whatever Purge out Patriot extremism Purge out so there was
35:43
a big push of a lot of those people in the middle out I still think and I know enough guys and talk to enough who said
35:49
hey I I want to be in for the right reasons I know what's wrong it's jacked up if I say something I'm canned but in
35:56
a new environment I think think I think there's still a core there that's not and here's the challenge is in battle
36:02
for the American mind my other book was about the state of education in America which is to I mean government schools
36:09
are you know this as well as anybody horror shows um but if you want to get out of them you can you can move you can
36:16
homeschool you can you you got options for the most part school we only have one defense department what's the option
36:23
abandon it and so if every Patriot abandons it um what does it look like
36:28
and how is it utilized in the future in ways that are far more nefarious than Foreign Wars uh where we get entangled
36:35
and we end up trying to Nation build for 20 years I feel like that's how we fix it
36:44
you abandon it really yep I know you probably think I'm crazy I I would we
36:50
have a second amendment we have more gun owners than anything else in this country yeah I know we need planes and
36:58
Tech and satellites and space force and all the Navy and all the [ __ ] but when's
37:03
the last time we actually went to war to fight for our freedom we won't even defend our Southern
37:10
border should we have been in Iraq I was a huge proponent of at the time but in retrospect absolutely not so
37:17
was I I don't think we should have been there I think that was all for Cheney and KBR halberton I think we're in
37:24
Afghanistan for way too I don't even think we're defending the country like why the [ __ ] are people even signing up
37:29
to go to war for what for what whose War it's not our [ __ ] War we're funding
37:35
the Taliban $40 to 87 million a a week a
37:41
week a week they run the government over there they're making passports for these
37:46
guy legitimate passports for these guys they fly them all over South America and Central America they funnel up through
37:53
the southern border you know it's not a [ __ ] conspiracy it's real
37:58
and like what's so what are we going to use our military for for Ukraine no so why why would anybody why
38:05
would anybody sign up what are you defending what are you
38:11
defending it's a great question I mean I think it's and that's why I reserved
38:17
judgment to say I want to know what the world looks like in four years when you're 18 and if we do if we if they do
38:23
lose all the Patriots they have to change something because they have no or
38:28
do they or do they or or would they conscript maybe you're right or would they bring in Pathway to citizenship
38:37
conscript I mean I think DC will find a way and and it would it may be ugly and
38:44
it may and so I I share all of your skepticisms about that I I've been a
38:51
recovering neocon for six years now like the foolishness with which we ricocheted
38:58
around the world intervening think it was in our best interests when really we just overturned the table and created something worse in almost every single
39:06
scenario has led to almost I mean the huus of of of the Pentagon is that they
39:11
want to now tell other countries how to do counterinsurgency based on what we did in Iraq and
39:17
Afghanistan are you kidding me so you really have learned nothing okay nothing
39:23
so yeah you're right that trust the trust there that our political leaders or our generals would have our best interest of mine is totally broken it's
39:28
totally broken I acknowledge that completely and the last thing I want is my son deploying to the Don boss to
39:35
defend eastern Ukraine I'm with you too at the same time I'm fearful of what
39:41
happens when the institution gets abandoned completely um and maybe it feels like the public school argument
39:46
like hey if we take all the Christians and people of Faith out of public schools and they're really going to go yeah but you got to save your kid right
39:52
and I'm going to save my kid and that's the view it's just there isn't there isn't alternative right now to the
39:59
United States military mhm there there just isn't and I don't want to lose
40:04
patriotic influence over that so my prayer because if Donald Trump doesn't
40:10
win and KLA Harris is the commander-in-chief what's happening inside our military is going to go on another level of warp speed and you're
40:16
going to see even more guys retiring guys and GS retiring and even more of
40:22
the Dei woke focus and it's going to continue to spiral uh if if Trump does
40:28
win and goes at it I think it might be our last sort of chance to save this institution and turn
40:33
it back to what it was because it is a top- down organization you put a you put a SE def in there who's focused on all
40:39
the right things get rid of all the just all the things that are
40:45
described in the book and focus on war fighting lethality and training and standards real
40:50
standards um not Equity but equality mhm you can do it there's still the the core
40:57
there but I share all your I mean what has Washington shown Us in the last 20 years that we should trust them with how
41:02
they'll use our young men it's fair I Trump tried use them on the border and they shut them down our power grids [ __ ] our bord [ __ ] our education
41:10
systems [ __ ] everything's [ __ ] that's the way it feels everything is
41:16
[ __ ] and we're and we're shipping all of our money overseas we should be I
41:22
me do you know how do you know anything about the power grid do you know how it is super super vulnerable I mean One EMP
41:31
one one of the right strikes and oh yeah we're we're what happens when we're months without power I don't think they
41:36
even need to do an EMP we don't they China produces all of our Transformers
41:42
all of our solar all of our wind everything and so and we don't even check it for malware or Trojan horses or
41:49
any of these type viruses that they I mean and even Ray FBI director raid came out and said yeah
41:56
they've they're in they're in our grid and they're in our water treatment plants and all they have to do is flip
42:02
the switch it but we ship what is it like
42:07
175 billion thus far to Ukraine but no well and and and Bin
42:16
Laden's son is now in Afghanistan and he's married to the daughter of Mala Omar and the um and the daughter of of
42:23
uh what's Zar Zara and they I mean when you when you hear when the
42:30
FBI director is saying that the dashboard is flashing red and smoking he's not doing it because he's he's
42:37
doing it because he's covering his ass he knows something's coming at some point and
42:43
um yeah I I I but even on top of all the Dei stuff
42:49
on the military I don't even think that that's I think that's just one aspect of the war on Warriors I mean just before
42:56
we started talking on on the show we were having a side conversation about
43:01
the Biden 4 the Blackwater guys Eddie Gallagher y Goldstein uh the latest one I don't know
43:08
if you're aware of this Brad giri do you know who Brad giri is he's a he's a naval Captain he was in charge of uh
43:16
Naval special Warfare Training Center he was the guy that was in charge when um Mullen the the seal recruit uh who was
43:23
in buds died Y and now they're pinning his ass to the wall and straight lies
43:28
just his just for an example his you know they're they're they're they are blaming it on the training codre and it
43:36
was too hard and the medical checks were were wrong and d d d d da but they did
43:42
three I believe it was three separate investigations to cover up they just
43:48
kept reinvestigating until the facts were gone and the facts were that they found a cooler or some type of a box
43:56
full of piles of testosterone human growth hormone and Viagra oh from
44:04
Pakistan and when he died he had his heart was 63% larger than most I think
44:10
he was 23 was he 23 at the time but they had all of that removed out of the investigation I should connect you guys
44:17
absolutely but that's the latest one that's Eddie Gallagher they tried him
44:23
for for murdering in Isis fight they tried him for murdering an Isis
44:29
fighter correct and they and you know I was a seal and I asked all my cuz I thought he was guilty I thought he was
44:36
guilty because everybody was saying that he was guilty I was calling my buddies that were still in hey what's up with
44:42
this gallager guy is this real like what I don't see the problem here and they're like oh man dude you don't want to it's
44:50
bad they have the videos it was they told I think it was green told went
44:57
around to all the sealed teams and brief them saying that they had video the proof that Eddie killed this guy in a I
45:05
don't whatever fashion mhm and but nobody ever saw it turns out in court it never came up they just [ __ ] lied to
45:12
the entire seal Community to pin this guy's ass to the wall a lot of people still hate him you had his lawyer Tim
45:20
poot to on your show uh without without the kind of legal defense that he got I mean they got the they got the other guy
45:26
to admit that he killed him mhm in the last day of yeah it wasn't even him wasn't even him so he didn't even kill
45:32
the I fighter so you it's Eddie Gallagher or Clint lence or
45:37
um uh the the the Raven 23 guys who those guys were one was going Nick
45:43
slatton was going to to prison for life for life and the other three I believe it was 35 years and they they deleted
45:50
the Drone footage that proved their innocence in court that's another one hey let's just retry them until we get a
45:57
a couple of them didn't even pull the trigger in the actual incident um it's Matt goldstein's the other one I'm
46:03
thinking of a Green Beret so yeah I mean chapter 10 and 11 are more lethality less lawyers and the laws of war for
46:09
winners um talking about exactly this and this is why you know I was proud to be a part of in a small way behind the
46:16
scenes with all of those with the pardons that came for president Trump and what his Instinct was hey I'm with
46:22
the warf Fighters like we sent them to do these really dangerous dirty difficult things things that no one else would do and then sort of like the line
46:30
from A Few Good Men and then we challenge the manner in which they do it and even when they do it in a way we may not like or every people don't
46:36
understand uh rather than giving them deference or having their back or finding a way to support them we throw them under of the bus and the Raven 23
46:43
is the most is one of the most egregious examples of that because it was politically expedient for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden to do that it was
46:49
a gift to the Malaki government because of what you know the publicity that come out because of it and so you have a
46:55
pentagon that starts to be complicit with that way of thinking and it's all about advancement and covering up problems and they don't have the backs
47:01
of guys um Rules of Engagement are a huge problem as you know um that's another one it's a big one I mean I
47:08
remember I remember I was working for the agency at the time and we were in
47:14
Helman Province and we were the the Marines were getting ready to do this big push through marid do you remember
47:20
that I remember that yep we were collocated right they didn't know but we were right alongside them and I remember
47:26
remember when the Roes came out for that under the Obama Administration it was if they shoot at you and drop their
47:33
weapon you cannot return fire in a war and I was like man like
47:40
you just cut these guys legs out right out from under them like nobody's even what are we doing like you just put the
47:47
fear of God in these guys that if they have to do their job and defend the
47:52
country that they're going to go to prison for the rest of their life I mean what they demoralized the the entire
48:01
Battalion that was doing that offensive push and I mean it's just it's just this
48:08
has been a long process I that's why I say the rules of War for winners because why are we fighting an enemy why have we
48:15
spent the last 20 years fighting enemies that don't abide by rules at all and these are rules written by like dudes in
48:21
in Cloak rooms in Europe after World War I because they thought that they could fight polite War s in the future amongst
48:27
European nations uh when we live now in a world in 2024 where all of our enemies
48:33
use all of their advantages against us ignoring all the rules of war and then expecting us to play by all those very
48:38
same rules where we're our largest critiquers in the middle of the process and then we wonder why the war never
48:44
ends and why we it perpetuates itself and then why we're throwing our own guys in jail because we've written rules that
48:51
are impossible that that are written for us to lose that are written for our guys to be in handcuffs I mean I got to same
48:57
a similar brief we had a Jag officer jag off um brief our platoon in Iraq in 2005
49:04
in Baghdad prior to one of our first missions and there was just standard Roe briefing he's like so you see a man in
49:09
the road and he's carrying an RPG it's not yet pointed at you and it was you know an enemy can you shoot my guy's
49:16
like hell yeah they're like no you cannot but you cannot shoot until he's pointing that weapon at you and I just
49:24
remember walking out clear as day I remember walking out that briefing pulling my platoon together and being like guys that we're not doing that you
49:30
know like if you see an enemy and you know they're engage before he's able to point his weapon at you and shoot we're
49:37
going to have your back and that comes back down to Commander and I I felt like I could say that because I knew I had
49:42
commanders echelons above me who would have our backs in that process and the
49:47
New York Times and the left and Democrats would say you know all they do is take one in incident and yell war
49:53
criminal they never actually understand the context what I mean I got the same income on Eddie Gallagher don't touch
49:59
this story I I talked to seal don't don't touch it guilty is all hell guilty is all and I just looked more and more
50:05
same with Clinton R same with uh Matt Goldstein all and and the Raven 23 guys what is Matt Goldstein Matt goldstein's
50:11
Green Beret uh I can't I can't remember all the particulars of it right now but he was involved a a guy who had they had
50:19
rolled up who had been involved in killing Americans then had gotten released and his sources were going to
50:25
be killed and he laid in basically an ambush on the guy when he was released and killed him because they knew that
50:31
their sources were all going to be killed forgive me if that's wrong something along those lines he's probably going to watch and text me and
50:37
be like you're an idiot uh so I'm sure I got some part of that wrong he's one of the smartest most patriotic guys you'll
50:44
ever meet I mean you should have him on the show sometime guys phenomenal like stupid level smart PhD level did he get
50:51
out of it or is he where he got out of it he got a pardon he did from Trump nice and and and because and and the
Trump's Support for War Fighters
50:59
thing with Trump is if he his his wife Julie Goldstein was on our show a number of times she's just really articulate
51:05
really passionate once he sees a story and gets how it connects to something bigger it get connects to the bigger
51:10
idea that we're [ __ ] over our Warf Fighters here why are we doing that why did we do that why wouldn't we back
51:15
these guys up even if they weren't perfect and he you know he'd call me be like they you know they did some nasty
51:21
did some tough things he's a rough guys but he respects people that were willing to do it on behalf of the restur of us
51:27
and he's not going to throw him out of the bus so once he gets the information and you're able to say here's what happened or here's what happened in
51:32
Eddie Gallagher's trial I mean that went all the way to the Secretary of the Navy if you remember that I mean the guy got
51:38
Spencer got canned uh for misrepresenting how that entire case went out um that's what you need
51:45
leaders that get it and that was Donald Trump do you think it would be a good idea for whoever gets into office to put
51:51
a put like a team together of these guys that have been through through what
51:57
we're talking about like Eddie Brad giri
52:02
Goldstein because one they know who to go after because it's happening to them
52:09
mhm two they're passionate about it put Tim paror on the list too by the way he's super smart Yeah Tim would be he'd
52:17
be good Tim would be a great wrecking ball he would a level-headed Wrecking Ball but um but I I mean I feel like
52:25
maybe a little bit of an overcorrection because you know it's personal but sure I mean I feel like that would be a great
52:33
start yeah you have to start with people who can say okay I know who the political animals were in those places
52:39
because that's that's the challenge of a new Administration everyone's going to jump up and down say I was this or I was
52:44
never really for that or I because they want to preserve their careers and you're going to have to have somebody
52:49
that's able to call balls and Strikes I mean this isn't just happening with the military though I mean this is this is
52:56
in all the agencies I know it's at the the agency because I was there it was
53:01
bad when I left in 2015 but you know and I you know when you say from the top
53:08
down I just I don't I don't know if that works I don't know about theems what
53:14
they're teaching well you'd have to change theems too right so that's that's where you have to change both sides of that squeeze you have to I mean
Women in Combat Roles Debate
53:23
admission standards overall standards I think I think a huge one is is women in
53:28
combat and quotas I think the way they pushed that under Obama in a way that
53:34
had nothing zero to do with uh efficacy zero to do with lethality and capability
53:41
you don't like women in combat no why not um I love women service members who
53:46
contribute amazingly uh because everything about men and women serving
53:52
together makes the situation more complicated uh and complication in
53:58
combat MH means casualties are worse uh and when you actually go into the hood
54:05
again and I you know I got response I've got 99% positive response to this a few
54:10
a little bit of push back but when you actually break down what they did in the studies to open the door for women in combat I mean they just ignored them so
54:18
the Marine Corps was the only service that actually tried to fight back and say now obviously I'm exempting special
54:24
operations which uh thus far has held the line fairly well because if they were lowering the standard to become a
54:30
Navy SEAL just to let women inside the Navy Seals that's going to change the capabilities and Ethos of the Navy Seals
54:36
except for a very small example of some you know female super soldier who's capable of doing it but because of how
54:42
Washington Works they're going to change the standards they're going to push for quotas we have numerous quotes in the book of no no we the these standards
54:49
aren't changing they're just evolving okay they're just evolving okay to meet the needs of today they're not getting
54:55
tougher they're no so they're getting lower every take someone like Millie I mean he was
55:01
calling down to individual units to make sure they had female company commanders after they graduated from Rangers School
55:07
like what's the chairman of the Joint Chiefs doing pushing company command slots for it's all an agenda it's all to
55:13
say oh we have this first or we have this that so that's proliferated everywhere the reason women started
55:20
getting in combat is because of forward support companies and they were you know we were integrating a lot of the rear
55:26
Echelon activities into bcts forade combat teams that were now deploying forward as an entity and so you had
55:34
women truck drivers or fuel or mechanics or on these convoys in Iraq and Afghanistan and then they'd be ambushed
55:40
or hit by IEDs and suddenly now you have women in combat that's maybe a modern reality in a 360 Battlefield that's
55:48
different than intentionally saying we're going to put women into combat roles so they will do the combat jobs of
55:55
men um knowing that we've changed the standards and putting them there which means you've changed the capability of
56:01
that unit and if you if you say you haven't you're a liar because everybody knows between bone density and lung
56:08
capacity and and and muscle strength men and women are just different and so if
56:13
you want to I'm okay with the idea that you maintain the standards where they are for everybody and if there's some
56:19
you know hard charging female that meets that standard great cool join the infantry battalion but that is not
56:26
what's happened yeah what has happened is the standards have lowered because they the general comes by and asks a
56:32
question you know what questions are when generals ask questions they're just a command lieutenant or captain or major
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why aren't there more women in your unit that means get some more women in your unit now and that moves all the way
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through the training Pipeline and so I I'm surprised there hasn't been more blowback uh on that already in the book
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because I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles it hasn't made us more effective hasn't
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made us more lethal has made fighting more complicated most of them actually are a lot of them are pushed I shouldn't
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say most but many are pushed into a combat track because they're so highly capable but if they had their first choice it probably wouldn't be that um
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an 11 series job you know armor or or infantry so I mean the Marine Corps did
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the study and and and integrated units meaning male female did drastically
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worse than L male units and Ry mayus who was the Secretary of the Navy in time in 2015 said oh [ __ ] your study uh we're
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doing it because that's what the Obama Administration wanted and and everything else changed so I I'm not saying that
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was the only point but that and I don't know if that'll ever change I mean imagine the demagoguery that would come on in Washington DC if you're actually
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making the case for you know we should scale back women in combat and as the disclaimer for everybody out there and
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I'm not really in the disclaimer business like we've all served with women and they're great um just our institutions don't have to incentivize
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that in places where traditionally not traditionally over human history U men
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in those positions are are more capable yeah I'm not going to argue I I think
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women I have to give my opinion here I guess I think women do have a place in
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combat if they want it um I think there are certain units that they need
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to stay out of or create their own because when you said it gets
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complicated yeah it does get complicated man I mean
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sex happens everywhere and I talked about this on another one and I got blasted for it like oh well you guys
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should be more professional yeah [ __ ] you okay like wasn't there like some
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Senator Z had getting his ass pounded in in DC there&apo