Pete Hegseth is supposedly the Secretary of Defense, only he calls himself the Secretary of War. He’s constantly drunk and he always has a face full of makeup. He’s very big on gender-affirming care when it’s about his own fragile masculinity. Speaking of, for months now, there have been constant reports of Hegseth personally firing women and people of color from the American military. There are constant reports of Hegseth refusing to promote women and Black men as well. The latest is that Whiskey Pete blocked seven Navy promotions because the Navy wanted to promote two women and two Black men.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly blocked the recent promotion of at least seven Navy officers, including two women and two Black men, according to a New York Times report published on Monday, June 1. Three other officers removed from the promotion list were White men, according to the report.
Despite women making up about 21% of the active-duty Navy, no female officers were included on the May promotion list. The list only includes two nonwhite officers, despite about 38% identifying as racial minorities, according to The New York Times. Four current and former defense officials described the defense secretary’s alleged actions as “highly unusual,” the outlet reported.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell denied The New York Times’ report in a statement on X, claiming the “failing” outlet is full of “radical left reporters” whose work is “race-baiting garbage.”
“They continue to push this worn out narrative because they view almost everything through the lens of race and gender over merit,” Parnell wrote. “As we’ve said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The Department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions,” his statement continued. “Under President Trump and @SecWar Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the War Department.”
“Military promotions are given to those who have earned them,” Parnell also told The New York Times. “The department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions.”
The latest report comes after NBC News reported in April, citing nine U.S. officials, that Hegseth blocked or delayed promotions across all branches of the military based on people’s “race, gender or perceived affiliation with [former President Joe] Biden administration policies or officials. There is not a single service that has been immune to this level of involvement by Hegseth,” one of the U.S. officials told the outlet.
In March, The New York Times reported that Hegseth blocked the promotions of two women Army officers and two Black Army officers to one-star generals.
“Since taking charge of the Department of Defense, we have seen Secretary Hegseth oust numerous decorated, knowledgeable, and well-respected U.S. military leaders and remove individuals from promotion lists in his ongoing culture war,” House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith, a Democrat, said in an April statement.
“The Department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions…” The department IS considering race and gender in promotions, they’re just doing so in a textbook example of gender and racial discrimination. Hegseth is also showing a pattern of discrimination by refusing every promotion for women and Black men, and that pattern of racial and gender discrimination leaves the Pentagon massively liable for many potential lawsuits. Again, this is part of Hegseth’s fragile masculinity too – he doesn’t want to be part of a big-boy “department of war” with girls and Black folks.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
