Chris Hayes - Pete Hegseth is enjoying a perverse GOP version of affirmative action

As Republicans rail against DEI and diversity hires, they're trying to fill the government with unqualified and lackluster associates of Trump.

Jan. 15, 2025, 4:05 PM EST
By Chris Hayes

This is an adapted excerpt from the Jan. 14 episode of “All In with Chris Hayes."

I want you to mentally bracket out for a second the very serious allegation of sexual assault against Pete Hegseth, the man Donald Trump wants to be his defense secretary.

Yes, it is an allegation born of a police report filed after his accuser went to the emergency room seeking a rape kit. Yes, Hegseth denies that allegation and says he had consensual, extramarital sex with his accuser — and made an undisclosed payment to her to settle the matter.

Hegseth said he made that payment to "protect" his family and his job. The local district attorney declined to file charges in the case, saying “no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

But for a moment, just forget that. Pretend none of it happened. Instead, imagine the process of sorting through resumes for a candidate to run the Pentagon, one of the most important jobs in the United States. A job that oversees the nation’s largest single workforce. A job that starts and ends with keeping Americans safe.

There is no universe in which Hegseth’s resume gets into the “let’s interview him” pile. He is manifestly unqualified for virtually any government job, much less the one he’s nominated for, something he demonstrated frequently in his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday.

/snip