Trump's ex-defense chief won't say whether Hegseth is qualified to lead the Pentagon

Donald Trump's former defense secretary refused to state that the president-elect's latest nominee was qualified to lead the Pentagon.

Mark Esper, now a CNN global affairs analyst, appeared Wednesday morning on the network to discuss the confirmation hearings for defense nominee Pete Hegseth, and host Kasie Hunt challenged him "bottom line" to say whether the former Fox News host and National Guard veteran was qualified for the job.

"Well, look, he comes into the job with far less experience and and background than others," Esper said. "He's acknowledged this, others have, as well. I think it's going to be the job, of course, of the Armed Services Committee and the Senate at large to assess that. That's the only qualification that's written out there in terms of what it takes. Look, he is right about the need to modernize the military, about making sure that we're ready for what's ahead with regard to China. That's what I took on as my priority when I assumed the role in 2019, so there is a lot of, uh, a lot of enthusiasm. A lot of people agree that we need to be focused on war fighting, and we need to modernize the military, and if he comes in and kind of puts an emphasis in those areas, uh, I and others will fully support any effort to really modernize the United States military and make sure that we are as ready as possible for what lies ahead. This is a dangerous century that we're in right now."

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Hunt interrupted and asked whether Hegseth had the mental and emotional strength to resist an unlawful order from Trump, such as when he asked Esper about shooting "Black Lives Matter" protesters during nationwide demonstrations in 2020.

"Well, look, this is the tension that the uniformed military officers face," Esper said. "On one hand, there are two principles, and sometimes they are in tension. One is that they are to remain apolitical, and the second is and it's, you know, it's been part of our history for nearly 250 years, that there is civilian control of the military, so they are duty-bound to obey any lawful order of the president. I would also argue they are duty-bound first to give him their best military advice."

Esper then changed the subject to so-called wokeness, a derisive term for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which Trump and Hegseth frequently complain has undermined military readiness.

"So in this whole question about wokeness in the military, clearly I've said in the past publicly, the wokeness in the military thing, it's not as bad as some on the right will say, but it's far worse than what Democrats would acknowledge," Esper said. "This is an issue where if the military, where if there is wokeness and the military is being directed, they were following a legal order. So I think as if Hegseth comes into office and others, I think a simple direction to the military, they will obey the legal orders and and follow the path that they direct, as long as again, it's a legal order, and I think that's how we need to look at the uniform military is balancing that tension between remaining apolitical, which we all want, the American people want, but at the same time making sure that there's clear civilian control of the military, which means obeying all lawful orders."

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