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MSNBC Guest Who Went After Pete Hegseth Facing Backlash From All Sides

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  November 16, 2024 7:30 PM

Earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump selected Pete Hegseth to serve as his Secretary of Defense. The reaction was swift, with the criticism in many cases downright nasty and ugly. MSNBC, which has been taking Trump's win pretty hard and has suffered from plummeting post-election ratings, had on multiple guests who threw Hegseth under the bus by accusing him of being a "white supremacist."

During "All In with Chris Hayes," Sherrilyn Ifill, a lawyer and professor at Howard University, who also served as the former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, made such a claim. 

Ifill also focused on Hegseth's role as a Fox News host, with Hayes jumping in to clarify that he was a "Fox & Friends Weekend" host, which Ifill called "an important distinction," rather than mention how Hegseth is also a decorated veteran. "This is someone who, you know, is known to be a white supremacist, known to be an extremist, whose platform, whose book is basically about his opposition to the advancement of black officers to the top brass," she claimed in a clip that has been circulating. She would later go on to acknowledge that Hegseth is a veteran, but claimed that that "is simply inefficient."

That book, "War on Warriors," which came out earlier this year and which we had a chance to review after interviewing Hegseth, specifically addresses the dangers and concerns of a woke military. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have raised such concerns. The lawmakers' report also noted that the military is less extreme than the population. 

There is also one particularly memorable chapter of Hegseth’s book that focuses on the care and concern he had for his fellow National Guardsmen who were black and were targeted by violent mobs shouting racial slurs while they were defending Washington, DC during the 2020 riots. 

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In sharing such a clip, Hegseth's co-host, Rachel Campos-Duffy, made clear that Hegseth is no such thing as "a white supremacist," and that she "would certainly know" if he was one. "She deserves to be sued for defamation," Campos-Duffy also posted about Ifill. 

It's not merely Hegseth's co-workers who are speaking out against Ifill's claims, though. Michael LaRose, who served in the Biden-Harris White House and the 2020 campaign, as well as as a spokesperson for First Lady Jill Biden, had some particularly harsh language to condemn Ifill's remarks, which included a lesson for his fellow Democrats.

"Opposing DEI initiatives does not make you a white supremacist. Conversations and demonization like this are a big part of the reason we got our asses kicked," he began in part. 

"Voices like this on the left are turning the Democratic Party into a joke," his post also mentioned. "We’ve got to knock it off and get serious guests who are going to diagnose politics, not make it worse. Name calling, vilifying, and defaming nominees you oppose, even if there is very good reason to oppose them, represents everything the Democratic Party should be RUNNING away from."

LaRose's post also linked to a Mediaite article, which mentioned how Hayes was forced to defend Hegseth on air in a way, as he offered that "I would just say that Hegseth would say that he would deny strenuously he's a white supremacist," adding, "I just wanna put that on the record."

Still, Ifill doubled down further, insisting that it "is absolutely true" that Hegseth "is an extremist."

Then, attorney Maya Wiley went on "The Beat," where she ranted and raved about the Senate's role in confirming Trump's Cabinet picks. 

"And you know, we should say, one of the things that's so important in this function, in this role is the people of this country should have some understanding of who's gonna be making decisions about their daily lives," she mentioned, which is when she directly went after Hegseth. "Because let's remember, when we're talking about the Secretary here, and Hegseth and his white supremacist and extremist tattoos on his body, he is also a person, if he is in this job, will be having a discussion about Donald Trump about sending the military into communities to police U.S. citizens," as she went on an unhinged rant about "warnings" Trump himself has supposedly made. Host Ari Melber could be seen nodding along.

Considering that MSNBC and its anchors--looking at Joy Reid specifically--are in deep trouble, this doesn't seem like the smartest idea to give such guests a platform there. 

It's not just MSNBC, though. Tara Copp and Jason Dearen, both of the Associated Press, went after Hegseth on X for his tattoos and the Christian symbols they represent. 

Vice President-elect and Hegseth himself responded to Copp and her attack on Christians, with Hegseth vowing to put an end to such attacks with him serving as head of the DOD during the second Trump administration.