Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was scolded Tuesday by a Fox News host who said the Pentagon chief's televised speech reminded him of "something that might happen in China or North Korea."
Harold Ford, Jr., a former Democratic congressman from Tennessee and co-host of the Fox News show "The Five," talked about Hegseth's speech to the American military's top brass on Tuesday morning. During the meeting, Hegseth told military leaders that there would no longer be any "woke" policies and that the military would return to male-oriented standards.
Some military leaders described the meeting as a "waste of time" and an "insult."
"I didn't like the televised part of this," Ford said. "Because it reminded me of something that might happen in China or North Korea."
"If I were an adversary of the United States... and I'm watching this, I'm not convinced I would be more fearful of the United States or wanting to be more like them," he added.
Ford also took issue with the new moniker that Hegseth and President Donald Trump have come up with for the Department of Defense, calling it instead the Department of War.
"It should be called the Department of Deterrence," Ford said. "President Trump is the first president in my lifetime who openly talks about not wanting war, wanting to end wars, wanting to get people out of wars. Even when they're not Americans shedding blood, he has shown compassion on behalf of the Ukrainians and the Russians."