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Watch this Democrat school Pete Hegseth on foreign policy [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2025-06-11
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware was forced to give Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a history and foreign policy lesson on Wednesday.
During a Senate budget subcommittee hearing, Hegseth dismissively downplayed the contributions of European allies in past wars, using Afghanistan—where he served—as an example.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
“Mr. Secretary, let's just make clear for the record that our military partners in Afghanistan included many who served and died. Our Danish partners and allies on a per capita basis, suffered more,” Coons said before being interrupted by Hegseth.
“As I pointed out in my opening comments, our partners and allies have stepped up, have invested, have engaged in the defense of Ukraine, and so should we,” Coons continued calmly.
He added, “We should not be pursuing a ceasefire and a negotiated resolution to the war in Ukraine at any cost. Peace through strength means actually using our strength, continuing to support Ukraine and securing a lasting peace. Putin will only stop when we stop him.”
Hegseth’s dismissive attitude toward U.S. allies’ contributions mirrors President Donald Trump’s tendency to ingratiate himself with dictators like Vladimir Putin and threatening to withdraw from NATO. The Trump administration’s continued antagonism toward U.S. allies has, unsurprisingly, not yielded any positive results.
Hegseth appeared before the Senate twice in two days, defending Trump’s decision to deploy Marines to Los Angeles without the consent of local state and city officials.
Coons’ ability to highlight that Hegseth is barely qualified to be a Fox News contributor, much less a foreign policy analyst, is an essential reminder of the Trump administration’s ineptitude.
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