Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Defense, was forced to resign from D.C. National Guard over an inflammatory tattoo reported up the chain by a fellow serviceman. The tattooed image, with Latin words “Deus Vult,” appears on Hegseth’s bicep and has gained popularity inside the Christian Nationalist terrorist movement.
The tattoo’s existence got reported to superiors by naval-intelligence officer Travis Akers at a critical time: right before D.C. National Guard would deploy to protect President-elect Joe Biden‘s coming inauguration in 2021. As a result, Hegseth was told not to report for inauguration duty.
From Washington Post‘s Aaron C. Davis, Alex Horton, Dan Lamothe and Evan Hill:
Researching the phrase online, Akers found that it was a Christian battle cry from the First Crusade in the Middle Ages: ‘God wills it.’ Though the phrase remains in use among some ordinary Christians, especially Catholics, Akers said his research showed that it had become popular with the Proud Boys, Three Percenters and other extremists groups that participated in the siege at the Capitol.
Hegseth would later write in his book, “The War on Warriors,” that the episode caused him to leave the Guard entirely. “Twenty years later, I was deemed an ‘extremist’ by that very same Army… the military I loved, I fought for, I revered… spit me out.”
AUTHOR COMMENT
The fact that Hegseth has no experiencing leading big agencies is actually the least-surprising aspect of this personnel choice—remember, Trump affirmatively hired profoundly incompetent Betsy DeVos to “run” Department of Education for Regime One. Here, nominating a telegenic, muscled-Christian extremist (think: DeVos with more testosterone) Trump tosses red meat to his adoring-Evangelical flock.
Beyond that, Trump is also sticking with past patterns of behavior, in which his “administration” and inner circle serve as a safe space for (alleged and/or proven) sexual abusers.
UPDATE: Author and historian Timothy Snyder is out with a new post from his Substack, “Thinking About…“, listing 13 ways Trump tapping Hegseth is designed to hasten “national destruction.” To accomplish that Herculean effort, Snyder argues, Hegseth will embark on a Christofascist “crusade” to dismantle liberal democracy. From the piece:
Hegseth thus represents a policy of regime change. Trump’s nomination of Hegseth is best understood as part of a decapitation strike against the republic. A Christian Reconstructionist war on Americans led from the Department of Defense is likely to break the United States.
SOURCES
- Washington Post
- YouTube
- Christopher Webb on Twitter/X
- Timothy Snyder
