Justin Higgins, former senior opposition researcher for the RNC, wrote that Hegseth is unqualified to be Trump’s defense secretary.
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary doesn’t bode well for the Pentagon, Justin Higgins, former senior opposition researcher for the Republican National Committee (RNC), wrote in a Saturday op-ed.
Earlier this week, Trump tapped Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, listing his accolades and calling him “tough, smart and a true believer in America First.”
“Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy”, the president-elect wrote in a statement.
Hegseth served in the U.S. Army where he did tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan. He joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014 before he became a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend in 2017.
Higgins knows a thing or two about Hegseth, given that he vetted him in 2016 when Trump’s team was considering him for under secretary roles at the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs for Trump’s first term. Higgins now identifies as a Democrat and is a politically appointed official for the governor of Puerto Rico. He co-hosts the Politics + Media 101 podcast and is a regular contributor to DW News, Germany’s international broadcaster.
In an opinion piece titled, “What I learned after helping vet Pete Hegseth for the RNC in 2016”, published by MSNBC on Saturday, Higgins pointed out Hegseth’s Ivy League degrees and his military awards, but said he lacked other experience.
“The potential new secretary of defense has no experience running a large organization, lacks foreign policy experience, and has never worked in a meaningful way with Congress to pass billions in military budgets”, Higgins wrote.
