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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