Hegseth Brags About Killing 'Woke' Women's Security Program Pushed By Ivanka
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday that he ended the Women, Peace and Security program within the Pentagon, disparaging the initiative that ensures women are part of peace-building efforts across the world as "woke."
"This morning, I proudly ENDED the “Women, Peace & Security” (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense," the embattled Hegseth wrote in a post on X. "WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops—distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING.”
Hegseth continued his hysterical criticism of the program.
“WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it,” he seethed. “DoD will hereby executive [sic] the minimum of WPS required by statute, and fight to end the program for our next budget. GOOD RIDDANCE WPS!"
Of course, it was Donald Trump who in 2017 signed WPS into law. In 2019, the Trump administration touted the success of the program, which it said “aims to promote the meaningful inclusion of women in processes to prevent, mitigate, resolve, and recover from deadly conflict or disaster.”
A Women for Trump press release pointed to the passage of WPS as one of the reasons Trump was pro-woman (hah!).
What’s more, the law was written by Trump Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when she served in the House, and was co-sponsored by Trump Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he served in the Senate.
The law was so uncontroversial that it passed by voice vote in both the House and Senate, without any lawmakers objecting to its passage.
Rubio even touted the program just a few days ago at the International Women of Courage event on April 1.
“President Trump also signed the Women, Peace and Security Act, a bill that I was very proud to have been a co-sponsor of when I was in the Senate, and it was the first comprehensive law passed in any country in the world— first law passed by any country anywhere in the world—focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society,” Rubio said.
Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, was also very proud of WPS, celebrating its passage in 2017 and later its implementation.
"By recognizing the diverse roles women play across the spectrum of conflict — and by incorporating their perspectives throughout plans and operations — DOD is better equipped to promote our security, confront near-peer competitors, and defeat our adversaries," former Trump Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said in 2020 while touting the success of the WPS program.
But now Hegseth, an accused sexual abuser and misogynist who has attacked the inclusion of women in the military, said he's ending it.
Democrats slammed Hegseth for announcing he’s killing the program.
“Dear @PeteHegseth: Please stop spewing bullshit. The WPS program was authored by GOP Rep Noem during the first Trump Administration in 2017. It was bipartisan and signed into law by Trump. Oh, and how is your makeup today? Did you use your taxpayer-funded Pentagon makeup studio?” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) wrote in a post on X.
After it was pointed out that WPS is a Trump initiative and not a Biden one, Hegseth had to defend his decision to go after the program as part of his nonsensical war on “woke.”
“The woke & weak Biden Administration distorted & weaponized the straight-forward & security-focused WPS initiative launched in 2017. So—yes—we are ending the ‘woke divisive/social justice/Biden (WPS) initiative.’ Biden ruined EVERYTHING, including ‘Women, Peace & Security,’” Hegseth wrote.
Ultimately, this is yet another instance of the unqualified buffoon leading the Pentagon putting his foot in his mouth.
Hegseth came under fire in March when he removed web pages that celebrated diverse military veterans such as Major League Baseball legend Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights icon Medgar Evers, and even an image of the Enola Gay airplane that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan during World War II. The pages were removed because they contained references to words deemed inappropriate under the Trump administration’s effort to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives—the dreaded DEI bogeyman.
It certainly seems that Hegseth’s war on DEI is also why he moved to cancel WPS.
Had he done any research whatsoever on WPS to see that it was Trump who created the program, maybe he wouldn’t have yet another foot-in-mouth situation on his hands.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.
