Would Pete Hegseth carry out an order to shoot American protesters on American streets?

His reluctance to give a straight answer spoke volumes.

In other words, according to Trump’s own handpicked defense secretary, the then-president was interested in having armed government personnel open fire on American civilians on American streets.

With Trump's second term set to begin next week, the relevance of Esper’s story continues. Indeed, as Trump prepares to nominate former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, it’s hard not to wonder how he’d respond if the incoming president asked him the same question he asked Esper nearly five years ago.

The good news is, this question came up during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday. The bad news is, his answer fell far short. My MSNBC colleague Hayes Brown noted what happened when Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii asked the prospective nominee whether he’d comply with such an order.

Hegseth waffled some about how he was there with a National Guard unit that day and saw 50 Secret Service agents injured before Hirono cut him off. “That sounds to me like you will comply, you will shoot protesters in the leg,” she declared before moving on.

As Hayes noted, it would’ve been easy for Hegseth to say, “No, I will not order American forces to fire on unarmed American civilians.” But he didn’t......

It led Hirono to conclude, “That sounds to me that you will comply with such an order.”

Later, during the same Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan asked whether he would decline to carry out an illegal order. He rejected the very idea that Trump would ever give an illegal order, effectively refusing to answer the underlying question.

As the hearing wrapped up, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the chamber floor, “Unfortunately for Mr. Hegseth, his testimony thus far has failed to address the disturbing questions that plague his nomination.” The New York Democrat quickly added, “It appears Mr. Hegseth’s strategy is to follow the five Ds of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge!” (Schumer was, of course, borrowing a line from the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.”)

Alas, some Hegseth’s dodges were more unsettling than others.