Corey Lewandowski, a senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, said Monday that former Fox News host Pete Hegseth is exceptionally qualified to serve in Trump's Cabinet as defense secretary, telling Newsmax the president-elect's team has "no concerns at all" about his nomination.
"Pete is eminently qualified to be the secretary of Defense," Lewandowski said during an appearance on "National Report." "The issue is he's outside-of-the-box thinking. He's not the traditional military-industrial complex choice, someone who has been through the ranks. Pete has served with distinction in his capacity in the military. He is a Princeton graduate, he is a Harvard graduate, he has front-line duties.
"The fact that Donald Trump is picking somebody to go and fundamentally reform the Pentagon should be of no surprise as we have seen a military-industrial complex that has made billions, if not trillions, of dollars over the course of the last multiple decades engaging in multiple wars around this world," he said. "It's time to bring our troops home and Pete will make sure that that's exactly what we do."
There has been speculation that Hegseth's nomination could potentially help boost military enlistment and reenlistment numbers, and Lewandowski did not deny that possible motivation in picking Hegseth for the Defense position.
"I think it's not the primary focus, but it's clearly one that's very important" Lewandowski said. "Look, we have a military over the last four years who've been decimated by the Biden-Harris policies, the devastating Afghanistan withdrawal where we left men and women behind to perish.
"And having somebody now who's an outside-the-box thinker, who's young, that can relate to those individuals on the ground — not the politicians and the generals that have traditionally been given this opportunity — is really encouraging for those rank and file military officers who are saying, I'm at the end of my tenure. Do I want to re-up for four more years under a potential Secretary of Defense Hegseth? Or do I want to go home and find a new opportunity in the private sector?"
Lewandowski said that Hegseth brings that "special warfare skill set" to the table, "which is someone who's been there and someone who's going to encourage these troops to be the best they can be — not as a politician, but as one of those ground fighters."
He added that although Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, he hope that all of Trump's nominees will be evaluated and supported by the Democrats based on their merits.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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