Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Senator who lost legs in helicopter crash rips ‘unqualified’ Pete Hegseth for stance on women in combat

Tammy Duckworth calls sexual assault allegations ‘troubling’ and tears into ex-Fox News host’s service record

John Bowden
Washington DC
Sunday 24 November 2024 18:21 EST
Comments
Military veteran senator Tammy Duckworth rips 'unqualified' Pete Hegseth

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A US senator and combat veteran who lost both of her legs in a helicopter crash in Iraq has slammed Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense for his stance on women in combat roles.

Pete Hegseth, a veteran and former Fox News host, claimed allowing women to serve in combat roles — like Duckworth — was not providing any benefits to the armed services and argued it was making warfare more “complicated.”

Tammy Duckworth, a Democratic senator from Illinois, tore into Hegseth during an interview on CBS News’s Face the Nation on Sunday.

Senator Tammy Duckworth lost both of her legs and some function in one arm when her helicopter was hit by a rocket fired by an insurgent during her deployment to Iraq in 2004.
Senator Tammy Duckworth lost both of her legs and some function in one arm when her helicopter was hit by a rocket fired by an insurgent during her deployment to Iraq in 2004. (CBS Face the Nation)

“Mr. Hegseth is not qualified for the position because he doesn’t understand apparently, even after having served, that women are actually vitally important to an effective military,” she said. “With the recruiting challenges we’re having right now, if we were to pull all those women out and say, you can’t go into combat, we would face a severe personnel crisis in the military.”

She then targeted his military record: “He was a pretty low-ranking guy in the military, and he never had a command position ... He was a platoon leader, I think, once or twice, but he never even commanded a company. And so this is a man who is inordinately unqualified for the position.”

Military veteran senator Tammy Duckworth rips 'unqualified' Pete Hegseth

Duckworth retired from the military after being one of the first women to fly combat missions during the Iraq War; her rank upon retiring was lieutenant colonel. Hegseth retired at the rank of major.

Her comments came after Hegseth said on a recent podcast: “Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, means casualties are worse.

“I’m straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles — it hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.”

Access to all combat roles in the US military was expanded to women by Defense Secretary Ash Carter in 2016, authorized by then-President Barack Obama.

Hegseth has been criticized for saying woman should not be in combat roles
Hegseth has been criticized for saying woman should not be in combat roles (REUTERS)

The scuffle over Hegseth’s past comments is likely to take center stage in the coming days as he becomes the Trump Cabinet nominee facing the most scrutiny from both senators who will determine the fate of his confirmation as well as reporters, who have begun digging into an allegation of sexual assault for which Hegseth was not charged criminally.

Hegeseth later settled with his accuser in a civil case. He has denied any wrongdoing, and claimed that a sexual encounter with his accuser was consensual.

Trump’s transition team, already dealt a blow by the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz from contention for attorney general, was reportedly “blindsided” by the release this week of a largely-redacted police report detailing two accounts of the encounter between Hegseth and his accuser.

Gaetz pulled out of the running to lead the Justice Department on Thursday; his announcement, according to CNN, came 45 minutes after the news channel’s reporters contacted him for comment on the revelation that the House Ethics Committee had heard testimony about a second alleged sexual encounter between the ex-congressman and a 17-year-old high schooler at a drug-fueled party in 2017.

Like Hegseth, Gaetz strongly denies the allegations.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in