Pete Hegseth

Molly Butler / Media Matters

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Trump’s pick for secretary of defense has a history of spreading conspiracy theories as a Fox News host

Written by Jack Winstanley & Jack Wheatley

Published

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth, has a history of spreading baseless conspiracy theories on the network and on social media.

He has promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, including the white nationalist “great replacement” myth; spread misinformation about COVID-19; and used terms like “the deep state” to spread conspiracy theories about “the establishment.” 

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  • Trump said his secretary of defense nominee will be Fox host Pete Hegseth, who has complained about women in combat, claimed the military is too “woke,” attacked Muslims, and lobbied Trump to pardon war criminals

    • On November 12, Trump announced that he will nominate Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as secretary of defense. According to CNN, sources close to Trump confirmed that the president-elect’s longstanding relationship with Hegseth was a factor in the selection. [CNN, 11/12/24; Truth Social, 11/12/24]
    • Hegseth has made a number of bigoted and baseless claims, including complaining about women in combat and saying the military is too focused on being “woke” to be effective. Hegseth has also advocated against veterans’ benefits and attacked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) after she resisted calls to privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs, and he has repeatedly championed aggressive military actions — including war crimes. In his book, Hegseth also fearmongered about “Muslims’ birth rates,” and fearmongered about the “assimilation” and “integration” of Muslims. [Media Matters, 11/13/24, 11/12/24]
    • Hegseth used his Fox presence to successfully lobby then-President Trump to pardon several individuals convicted of war crimes. Hegseth said that the possibility of pardons is “very heartening for guys like me,” adding that it “could’ve been me” on trial for war crimes. Trump pardoned Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, who was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, and Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who was set to stand trial for the extrajudicial killing of a detained combatant. Hegseth also pushed for action in the case of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who was acquitted on several charges related to the murder of a prisoner of war. [Media Matters, 11/15/19, 11/8/19; Politico, 11/15/19]

  • Hegseth has a history of spreading anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, including the white nationalist “great replacement” theory

    • The “great replacement” is a white nationalist conspiracy theory positing that elites, such as Democrats, are importing nonwhite immigrants in order to “replace” white citizens and change the electorate. [Media Matters, 3/4/24]
    • Hegseth suggested that Democrats were “going to open the border” as part of a longstanding “plan … to turn Texas blue.” Hegseth added, “There's a lot of failure but there's some intentionality there, too.” [Fox News, Hannity, 9/8/23]
    • Hegseth posted that “George Soros and NGOs are a HUGE reason we have a crisis at the Southern Border!” Hegseth additionally posted that “George Soros is funding our border crisis.” [Twitter/X, 2/3/23, 2/2/23]
    • Hegseth argued that Democrats were “ignoring the border,” adding, “It doesn't affect them, except they hope in the future at the ballot box.” Hegseth claimed that Democrats “only care about protecting themselves, their political position, and their livelihood.” [Fox News, Fox News Primetime, 9/20/21]
    • Hegseth said of the Biden administration: “They want more illegals." He also warned viewers that migrants were being flown “to the destination of their choice, maybe your hometown.” [Fox News, Fox News Primetime, 9/23/21]

  • Hegseth has pushed misinformation and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic

    • Hegseth claimed on Fox News Primetime that the omicron variant of COVID-19 was “another liberal cover-up for Joe Biden's ongoing and many failures.” He also accused Democrats of using the variant to “jam through their pro-lockdown anti-freedom agenda.” [Fox News, Fox News Primetime, 12/1/21]
    • In another edition of Fox News Primetime, Hegseth speculated, “Could the left be using omicron to continue their forced vaccine push on freedom-loving Americans?” He also suggested that Democrats were using omicron to “create a panic and try to exploit it.” [Fox News, Fox News Primetime, 11/30/21]
    • Hegseth suggested that COVID-19 testing data could “be the type of thing that leaders can also manipulate.” Hegseth argued that “if the leaders say well we’ve got more positive tests, therefore, we need to delay [reopening] even further — that doesn't make sense to people.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/10/20]
    • Hegseth accused “the Democrats” and “the media” of “rooting for coronavirus to spread” in order to “drag down the presidency of Donald Trump.” Hegseth later doubled down, adding that “Democrats are cheering for a virus because they hate Donald Trump so much.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/28/20]

  • Hegseth has spread conspiracy theories about “the establishment” and railed against the “deep state”

    • Hegseth claimed “the D.C. bureaucratic deep state” has been “trashing [Trump] since 2015.” He argued that “Trump destroyed the Clinton dynasty, rearranged the Republican Party, and changed American politics forever. He’s the first candidate and president to call out endless foreign wars, to end unabated and cheap illegal immigration that big business secretly wants, and take on the D.C. bureaucratic deep state. Because he doesn't owe them anything. And they don't control him. And because of that fact — they're all about control — they’ve been trashing him since 2015.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/15/23]
    • Filling in as host of Jesse Watters Primetime, Hegseth claimed that “the establishment will do whatever it takes to keep Biden in the White House.” He added that “the deep state” had worked to “kneecap Joe's primary opponents.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 4/28/23]
    • In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hegseth speculated that “every inconvenient story for the Left DISAPPEARS!” In the post, he cited the “SCOTUS leaker,” “Epstein client list,” “DNC pipe bomber,” and “Paul Pelosi attack details” as supposed examples of stories that have “gone COLD!” [Twitter/X, 1/24/23]
    • Hegseth posted, “They covered up the Hunter Biden story. They interfered with the 2020 election. They’ll try to do it again.” [Twitter/X, 4/23/23]