Conservative exposes real motivation behind Trump’s controversial defense secretary pick

One of the many controversial picks for President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration is Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host he has in mind for defense secretary.

Hegseth's critics, including Never Trump conservatives, have been attacking him for a variety of reasons — including his lack of experience, his far-right Christian nationalist views, and a sexual assault allegation he has vehemently denied. Hegseth is a military veteran, but his critics have been pointing out that he hardly has the high-ranking experience of Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III — President Joe Biden's outgoing defense secretary. When Biden nominated Austin, now 71, he came with a very long resumé.

During an interview with his colleague at The Atlantic, Hanna Rosin, for the "Radio Atlantic" program, Never Trump conservative Tom Nichols — a professor emeritus at the Naval War College — laid out some reasons why he considers Hegseth a highly problematic nominee.

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Nichols described Trump's Hegseth pick as "a direct attack on our traditions of civil-military affairs."

Nichols told Rosin, "(Trump) is trying to send a message that from now on, America's military officers are supposed to be loyal to him, first and foremost, and not the Constitution. Because he still carries a pretty serious grudge against a lot of top military and civilian people during his first term as president who got in his way — or he thinks got in his way — about doing things like, you know, shooting protesters and using the military in the streets of the United States."

Nichols added, "So, he's sending a pretty clear message that this time around, he's not going to brook any of that kind of interference."

Nichols, during the interview, stressed that Trump wants a defense secretary who is as passive and obedient as possible — even if his orders are overtly illegal.

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The Never Trump conservative told Rosin, "No matter what it is and no matter how unconstitutional or illegal the order, he doesn't want anybody to say: We're not doing that. And remember, the first time he ran, he said things like: If I tell my generals — 'my generals,' which is a phrase he loves — if I tell my generals to torture people, they'll do it. And of course, immediately, a lot of very senior officers said: No, no, sir, we will not do that. That's an illegal order. We can't do that."

Nichols adds, "He doesn't want to hear any of that guff this time around."

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Hanna Rosin's full interview with Tom Nichols for The Atlantic is available at this link (subscription required).