CNN analyst Scott Jennings went scorched earth defending President-Elect Donald Trump’s resolution to make Fox Information host and veteran Pete Hegseth secretary of protection – as he slammed the present Pentagon management over its disastrous document.
Jennings, a former George W. Bush marketing campaign staffer, appeared on CNN Tuesday night time to debate Trump’s unorthodox option to have a cable information persona lead US army technique.
The political strategist passionately went to bat for Hegseth, an Military Nationwide Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, towards his fellow panelists on the left-leaning broadcaster, which included journalist Carl Bernstein.
“Does anybody believe within the present management of the Pentagon, and the way in which the protection state of affairs has been working for the final a number of years?” Jennings identified.
“I imply, from the Afghanistan pullout — which was an excessive debacle for which nobody was held accountable. We’ve had spy balloons flying over america. We constructed a $300 million pier [for aid in Gaza] as a public relations stunt, which wound up killing an American service member,” he rattled off.
“I’d say I’ve had nearly sufficient of the so-called insiders working the protection division,” he insisted.
When Bernstein tried to push again on Jennings’ dismissal of DC “insiders,” the Kentucky native was fast along with his personal retort.
“I hear all of the criticism of him is that he’s not the anticipated Washington choose. And I’m simply saying to you that the American folks simply voted towards the anticipated Washington choose,” he mentioned, referring to Trump’s historic election win final week.
Jennings additionally identified Hegseth’s credentials exterior of his punditry profession.
“He’s obtained 20 years in service. Afghanistan, Iraq. Two bronze stars. Princeton, Harvard,” he mentioned.
“Yeah, he’s on TV, however so are the remainder of us.”
Hegseth, 44, was one among a number of cupboard picks the Trump camp introduced on Tuesday.
He was a wild card choice from a roster of prime contenders with extra conventional backgrounds.
Along with his work on Fox, the dad of 4 nonetheless serves on the Minnesota Military Nationwide Guard’s Particular person Prepared Reserve, in accordance with a number of retailers.
