Sen. Johnson to Newsmax: Hegseth's 'Warrior' Perspective Needed

Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth has the "vital perspective of a warrior" that the Pentagon needs to "make our military lethal," Sen. Ron Johnson said on Newsmax on Friday. 

"What an extraordinary individual he is," the Wisconsin Republican said on "National Report." "He's one of the finest among us."

Johnson said he, like other senators, met with Hegseth but didn't press him on his military service. 

"He served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and as is typical with people who have served in combat, who are warriors, they don't really like talking about it," said Johnson. "They don't like talking about the trauma [or] exactly what they saw."

Johnson said Hegseth's experience is a necessary skill for the job of defense secretary.

"It would be nice to have a warrior, a warfighter, somebody who understands what the troops are going through," said Johnson. "Does he have all the skill sets? Nobody does. But he has that vital perspective of a warrior. ... We need to expunge all the wokeness, all the DEI, all the crap that the Obama administration and the Biden administration have injected into the military and weakened our readiness."

Johnson also said the military needs recruits and that Hegseth would encourage other young people to join and be "confident that they're joining the military to defend this nation, not defend wokeness and die."

President-elect Donald Trump won a "convincing victory," so it should be up to him to decide on his Cabinet, and senators should confirm his picks unless there is something to disqualify them, Johnson said.

"Republicans ought to understand that they cannot believe a word the legacy corporate media reports, if we haven't learned that lesson, shame on us," Johnson said. "President Trump deserves the people that he wants to serve in his administration, to serve ... and it's our job to confirm those folks."

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