'Change it back': Trump defense pick wants to name bases after Confederate generals again

Trump Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth has in the past raged against efforts to change the names of military bases named after Confederate generals — and has even floated bringing the old names back.

CNN reports that Hegseth just last year said that the government should change the name of Fort Liberty in North Carolina back to Fort Bragg during a podcast appearance in which he was promoting his book, "The War on Warriors."

"We should change it back," he said. "We should change it back. We should change it back, because legacy matters. My uncle served at Bragg. I served at Bragg. It breaks a generational link.”

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CNN notes the irony of Hegseth's attachment to naming a military base after General Braxton Bragg, whom the network describes as "a slave owner who lost nearly every battle he was involved in during the Civil War" and is “considered one of the worst generals of the Civil War," according to a congressional committee established to study re-naming bases.

Hegseth has also called the renaming efforts “a sham,” “garbage,” and “crap” during assorted Fox News appearances.

Should Hegseth be confirmed as defense secretary, he could recommend renaming bases after Confederate generals, although he couldn't do so without the approval of Congress.