Pete Hegseth, Donald J. Trump’s shock pick for secretary of defense treats clothes like a CV, a catalog of hobbies and a patriotic signal fire.
Want to know where Mr. Hegseth has worked for the past decade? His gleaming “Fox Nation” belt buckle and “Fox News Channel” Christmas sweater answer that. How about his ideological leanings? His “A pledge a day keeps the commies away” T-shirt and the MAGA hat he wore on election night are clues enough. Even Mr. Hegseth’s favored football team is answered by his Minnesota Vikings tie.
Most of all, Mr. Hegseth, 44, a veteran and thrice-married father of seven, wears clothes plastered with American flags. He often dresses as if he had raided Walmart before going to a July 4 parade: American flag cowboy hats, American flag button-up shirts, American flag socks, American flag roper hats, American flag bow ties and American flag T-shirts. In an Instagram video from May 2023, Mr. Hegseth said he adhered to a “three flag minimum” in what he wears, pointing to a spangled belt buckle, pocket square and the pièce de résistance, the American flag lining of his blue suit jacket.
Mr. Hegseth appears to have more suits lined with American flags than most men have suits. On Fox, he favors the too-bright uniform of so many male TV personalities: caramel dress sneakers and a sheeny suit landing somewhere between blueberry and aquamarine. But the patriotic lining is always the top story. When Mr. Hegseth flashes the spangled under-layer, the get-a-load-of-this move looks like something a wrestler named Macho Mr. Freedom would do before entering the ring.
A staunch defender of Mr. Trump who has challenged the notion of women in combat and championed service members accused of war crimes, Mr. Hegseth’s suit linings exemplify how he, like many modern Republicans, sees patriotism and conservatism as ideologically twinned.
At Fox’s Patriot Awards in 2019, Mr. Hegseth told the crowd he was going to share “who” he was wearing. When he showed off the flag lining, the audience roared in appreciation. He was wearing America.
It’s not just the stars-and-striped detail that distinguishes Mr. Hegseth as the very picture of bro-y conservativism. If it’s themed around God, guns or freedom, it’s probably somewhere in his armoire. He has worn T-shirts printed with crosses, guns and insidery slights aimed at Joe Biden. He has sported a tank top showing the Republican forefather Teddy Roosevelt drinking a beer.
As a whole, Mr. Hegseth carries himself more like a Trump rally-goer than almost anyone else the president-elect has picked for his cabinet so far. He is certainly the only potential appointee to have done an Instagram ad for Grenade Soap, a company that (yes) sells soap in the shape of a grenade.
Mr. Hegseth’s tattoos alone are a buffet of right-wing symbolism: “We the people” is emblazoned on his forearm, an AR-15 beneath an American flag is inked on his bicep, and nearby there’s a riff on the “Join, or Die” cartoon dating back to the American Revolution.
At least one of his tattoos have caused him trouble. In 2021, he was one of several National Guard members removed from working at Joe Biden’s inauguration. In a podcast interview, Mr. Hegseth said he was scrubbed from the detail because he has a dinner plate-sized Jerusalem cross inked on his chest. That symbol has been linked to white nationalist groups. The incident cemented Mr. Hegseth’s status as a right-wing crusader.
That image may be welcomed, even encouraged, at a TV network with personalities who have never had to hide their political leanings. Mr. Hegseth himself posted a photo of his vote for Mr. Trump on Instagram.
He is likely to face an uphill confirmation battle — that crucifix tattoo could again be a factor. But, Mr. Hegseth’s maximally MAGA sensibility is already worlds apart from the dark-suited solemnity of Mr. Trump’s first secretary of defense, Jim Mattis. Naming Mr. Hegseth is an indication that this time around Mr. Trump isn’t squelching his most ideological instincts. Like Mr. Hegseth’s American flag lining, he’s flashing them.
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