Pete Hegseth Proves GOP Double Standard For Qualifications

There’s arguably no higher instance of contemporary white supremacy in America than the success of anti-DEI propaganda. (Additionally see anti-critical race idea, anti-Black historical past and pro-Nice Substitute Concept propaganda.) White America has completely satisfied itself that benefit is the rationale white males have overwhelmingly dominated each main business within the nation for all of its historical past versus patriarchy and systemic racism. In the meantime, clearly underqualified white males are invisible in that world, which is why none of them appear to note how typically white males are capable of fail upwards.

Pete Hegseth, the previous Fox Information host who has been nominated to function the incoming Trump administration’s secretary of nationwide protection, gave the kind of efficiency throughout his latest Senate affirmation listening to that might have all of MAGA America calling him a “DEI nominee” if he have been a Black man or a girl and particularly a Black girl.

Whereas testing Hegseth to see if he had the “breadth and depth of information” wanted to guide worldwide negotiations or do actually something in the best way of defending the U.S. from international threats, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth requested him if he might identify one nation included within the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), say what number of international locations are included within the group, and describe what kind of settlement the U.S. had with the international locations. Predictably, Hegseth was the proverbial deer caught in headlights in response to Duckworth’s line of questioning, revealing that he is aware of nothing of the workplace he seeks.

He knew different issues that have been utterly irrelevant although.

From NBC Information:

Hegseth responded on the heated Senate affirmation listening to that he couldn’t inform Duckworth the precise variety of ASEAN nations, however that “I do know we’ve got allies in South Korea and Japan, and in AUKUS with Australia,” referring to a pact among the many U.S., Australia and Britain.

“None of these three international locations are in ASEAN,” responded Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois. “I recommend you perform a little homework.”

ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. An eleventh nation, East Timor, is ready to hitch quickly.

Established in 1967, its aim is to advertise regional financial and safety cooperation, leveraging a mixed inhabitants of greater than 650 million individuals with a GDP of greater than $3 trillion.

Duckworth’s query got here after Hegseth had famous the strategic significance of the Indo-Pacific, a area the place China’s affect has been quickly rising and Beijing has turn out to be more and more assertive in urgent territorial claims.

Supply: Andrew Harnik / Getty

Now, look, if somebody have been to ask me a single query about my intimate information of ASEAN and I additionally would have checked out them like they requested me to clarify quantum physics in fluent Klingon — however I’ve not been nominated to go the workplace of secretary of nationwide protection. 

Extra to the purpose, if Lloyd Austin — the 4-star common who presently serves because the twenty eighth nationwide protection secretary after serving because the twelfth commander of U.S. Central Command and the thirty third vice chief of employees of the U.S. Military — had answered Duckworth’s questions the best way Hegseth did, white conservatives could be all up and down the web calling him a “DEI rent” simply because he’s a Black man. And that’s not hypothesis, it’s based mostly on very latest historical past.

Nobody has actually supplied tangible proof that the response to the wildfires in Southern California has really been mismanaged, however that hasn’t stopped MAGAts in right-wing media and on social media from suggesting that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is an incompetent “DET rent” (white individuals’s new N-word). When a serious bridge in Baltimore collapsed final 12 months Republicans instantly tied the tragedy to DEI just because Maryland’s port commissioner is a Black girl and Baltimore’s mayor, Brandon Scott, is a Black man. No such assaults have been ever leveled on the leaders of Tennessee throughout its a number of wildfire disasters, Florida throughout its many hurricane disasters, or some other Republican-led states that overcame pure disasters as long as white male officers have been main these states. (Even when they have been white male Democrats, they wouldn’t be immediately linked to DEI.)

Hell, when Barack Obama first ran for president, the main narrative of Republicans (who have been making an attempt their hardest to faux they weren’t racist) was that Obama was underqualified with solely 4 years within the U.S. Senate and eight years within the Illinois state Senate underneath his belt. Instantly after Obama’s two phrases, the identical Republicans and white conservatives gleefully elected a white male president who had not a day’s expertise in governing, lawmaking or judiciary work. But, throughout the newest presidential marketing campaign, Trump supporters repeatedly known as VP Kamala Harris a “DEI candidate” who’s woefully underqualified for the workplace of commander-in-chief regardless of her eight years as San Francisco’s twenty seventh district lawyer, eight years as California’s thirty second lawyer common, 4 years as a U.S. senator and 4 years as vice chairman of the US.

These are examples of racist “DEI” narratives as they relate to the world of politics, however it could possibly simply be utilized to white conservatives’ attitudes within the company world and the final workforce as effectively. If the individual ready of energy or affect who’s perceivably underqualified is Black or a girl (and particularly a Black girl) it’s DEI. If the perceivably underqualified individual is a white man, effectively — that’s simply America. 

SEE ALSO:

White Conservatives Falsely Tie California Wildfires To ‘DEI’ And Blame Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass

‘DEI Rent’: Racists Goal FBI Agent Alethea Duncan, A Black Lady, After New Orleans Automobile Assault

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