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Hegseth's Pentagon witch hunt snares hundreds of Kirk critics



Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has exhausted Pentagon and taxpayer resources
to investigate nearly 300 of his own employees to find anyone who doesn’t align
with President Donald Trump.

According to the Washington Post, service members, civilians, and contractors
have received disciplinary action for negative remarks against right-wing
activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed last month.

The move highlights an increasingly partisan Pentagon, despite government
workers—including the military—swearing loyalty to the Constitution over any
president.




 



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Hegseth’s witch hunt is on brand with the rest of the administration's call to
weed out anyone who has been critical of Kirk. Even Vice President JD Vance
called for civilians to snitch on critics of Kirk. And Attorney General Pam
Bondi has gone as far as labeling criticism of Kirk “hate speech.”

“There's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there is no place,
especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society,” she
said. “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone
with hate speech.”



Soon after, Bondi announced that the Department of Justice would be going
after businesses accused of refusing to print Kirk’s photos for vigils.




 



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The mixed response to Kirk’s assassination has not only been controversial,
but it’s also added ammunition to the right’s demonization of leftist activists
and transgender people. And soon after Kirk’s death, Trump posted a video
blaming the “radical left” despite no actual evidence regarding the shooter’s
motives or political beliefs.

The far-reaching punitive action against people who criticize Kirk has even
reached mainstream media, with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel being briefly
pulled from the air last month.

But as for the attacks targeting federal workers, Hegseth’s move reflects
another effort to push out anyone who Trump believes isn’t loyal enough.

From firing “leakers” to forcing staff to take lie detector tests, Hegseth has
proven that loyalty to Trump and his agenda is all that’s needed to be hired.



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