Conservative former presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan penned a blistering critique of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's recent speech before the military's top leaders.
Noonan, who was a speechwriter in the George H.W. Bush administration, argued in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that Hegseth's speech was an "unprecedented extravaganza" that made America's military look small and the country look weak. Her comments come two days after Hegseth assembled America's top military leaders to listen to him talk about ending diversity programs and instituting a height requirement for military service, a message that Noonan said he could have sent in an email or video.
"He paced the stage like a strutting, gelled bantam, like an amped-up actor with rehearsed gestures and expressions and voice shifts," Noonan wrote.
She also chided Hegseth's leadership at the Department of Defense and his efforts to reduce press access.
"There are recent reports his Pentagon is putting forward new rules requiring journalists to have their work approved before publication. Where that stands is unclear, but it’s nuts," Noonan wrote. "It makes America look like what our foes say we are, a place of make-believe freedom in which even the press is controlled by the government. Which really would be an urgent matter."