Dear MoveOn member,
Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, poses an unprecedented threat to our communities’ safety, American freedoms, and national security.
His confirmation hearing on Tuesday only confirmed our worst fears—and also underscored that we must act urgently to build awareness and outrage about how incredibly dangerous his confirmation is to our safety and the rule of law.
During Tuesday’s hearing, these are just some of the deeply serious concerns laid bare about Hegseth:
- Hegseth often showed up at work drunk and has been accused of rape and sexual harassment.1 His own mother called him an “abuser of women.”2
- He has wide-ranging extremist views, including saying as recently as this past November that women don’t belong in combat roles, calling progressives and Democrats “domestic enemies,” and insisting on restoring the names of Confederate generals to U.S. military installations.3,4,5
- He has virtually no management experience to lead the massive Defense Department, which is the largest employer in the United States and has an $841 billion budget.6
- And, most alarmingly, he refused to say he would disobey illegal orders from Trump that fly in the face of the Constitution to use the military against protesters or carry out mass deportations.7
Hegseth’s unquestioning loyalty to Trump and willingness to use military force against Americans make him uniquely dangerous as defense secretary. He is clearly signaling that he would eagerly comply with Trump’s autocratic impulses rather than uphold his oath to the Constitution—all at the expense of our service members.
Republican senators believe they have the votes to confirm Hegseth. The only thing that can stop Hegseth is a massive public outcry backed by a well-funded opposition campaign.
That’s where MoveOn comes in. We’ve launched an emergency campaign to stop Hegseth’s confirmation, but we need your support to quickly ramp up our work.
Will you start a monthly donation of $5 to help stop this uniquely dangerous nominee and to do all we can to block Trump’s worst actions in the weeks and months ahead?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Hegseth has written about the military taking sides in a civil war.8 His book American Crusade calls for the “categorical defeat of the Left,” with the goal of “utter annihilation,” without which “America cannot, and will not, survive.”9 And now he’s poised to lead the military.
When asked directly on Tuesday during his confirmation hearing if he would allow troops to fire on peaceful protesters, he refused to answer.10
The threat is clear: Trump wants a defense secretary who will eagerly comply with his autocratic impulses rather than uphold their oath to the Constitution, and our military members will be the ones who suffer the most.
And, right now, right-wing dark-money groups are spending huge sums to pressure senators to confirm him.
For instance, Building America’s Future, a right-wing group that spent $45 million supporting Trump’s presidential campaign, has aired more than $500,000 in ads on Fox News and elsewhere, calling Hegseth the victim of a “deep state” campaign to sink his nomination.11
The committee could vote as soon as Monday, with a full Senate vote shortly after. We have no time to waste and urgently need resources to fight back.
Please start a $5 monthly donation to help stop this dangerous nominee, expose Trump’s other dangerous nominees, and ensure we counter Trump’s worst moves at every turn. Every dollar helps amplify our campaigns against Trump’s threats to democracy and national security.
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
With your help, MoveOn will do all this:
- Mobilize our millions of members to create overwhelming grassroots pressure
- Counter the right-wing propaganda machine trying to normalize this dangerous nominee
- Build coalitions with veterans, military families, and democracy advocates
- Generate hard-hitting media coverage about the threat Hegseth poses
Please, Kendall, start a $5 monthly donation right now to power MoveOn’s work to stop Pete Hegseth from getting anywhere near the Department of Defense and to sustain our long-term work of defending our democracy and national security under the Trump administration.
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Nakia, Allison, Amanda R., Mohammad, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “Pete Hegseth’s Secret History,” The New Yorker, December 1, 2024
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pete-hegseths-secret-history
2. “Pete Hegseth’s Mom Calls Him ‘Abuser of Women’ in Released Email,” Rolling Stone, November 30, 2024
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/pete-hegseth-mom-abuser-of-women-email-1235187215/
3. “What Pete Hegseth Thinks Women Are Good For,” New York, January 15, 2025
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-pete-hegseth-thinks-women-are-good-for.html
4. “Trump’s Pentagon pick Hegseth wrote of US military taking sides in ‘civil war,'” The Guardian, November 22, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/22/trump-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-book
5. “Pete Hegseth says US military bases should restore names of Confederate generals,” CNN, January 13, 2025
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/13/politics/pete-hegseth-confederate-generals-military-bases/index.html
6. “The Pressure Campaign To Get Pete Hegseth Confirmed As Defense Secretary,” The New Yorker, January 13, 2025
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/the-pressure-campaign-to-get-pete-hegseth-confirmed-as-defense-secretary
7. “Five questions Hegseth dodged at his Defense Department confirmation hearing,” Axios, January 14, 2025
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/14/hegseth-defense-confirmation-hearing-dodge-questions
8. “Trump’s Pentagon pick Hegseth wrote of US military taking sides in ‘civil war,'” The Guardian, November 22, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/22/trump-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-book
9. “Donald Trump’s Most Dangerous Cabinet Pick,” The Atlantic, November 21, 2024
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/pete-hegseth-books-trump/680744/
10. “Five questions Hegseth dodged at his Defense Department confirmation hearing,” Axios, January 14, 2025
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/14/hegseth-defense-confirmation-hearing-dodge-questions
11. Post on X by Building America’s Future, December 6, 2024
https://x.com/bldgUSAfuture/status/1865124725204111486
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