The Trump administration on Thursday sought to clarify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s support for women’s voting rights following controversy spurred by his repost of a video tied to a pastor who said the opposite.
“Of course, the secretary thinks that women should have the right to vote. That’s a stupid question,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters during Thursday’s briefing.
Wilson also signaled that the post Hegseth shared had no standing on women’s recruitment efforts for the military.
“To be honest with you, I’m very excited to see the incredible recruitment numbers not just for men and women, but just across every single branch of our military,” she said. “It’s truly a testament to his leadership.”
Hegseth’s post last Thursday amplified rhetoric from Doug Wilson, cofounder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, or CREC, who was spotlighted by CNN.
“I would like to see this nation being a Christian nation, and I would like this world to be a Christian world,” the pastor said in the video.
The clip also shows fellow pastor Toby Sumpter, saying, “In an ideal society, we would vote as households,” and Jared Longshore, another pastor, saying he would support repealing the 19th Amendment.
In his sharing of the video, Hegseth wrote, “All of Christ for All of Life.”
Since the start of the Defense chief’s tenure, he fired Vice Adm. Yvette Davids from her post as the first female superintendent of the academy in Annapolis, Md. She was one of at least five senior female service members who have been reassigned since January.
The workforce shakeup has received some pushback, particularly from former officials.
“Just to remove commanders from their positions without cause sends a clear signal that this is not about merit, it’s not about performance, it’s about the fact that they’re women,” Leon Panetta, a former Defense secretary in the Obama administration, said of Hegseth’s moves.
He added, “It’s the only conclusion you can come to.”
