Defense pick Pete Hegseth repeatedly criticized removing names of Confederate generals from US bases

Defense pick Pete Hegseth repeatedly criticized removing names of Confederate generals from US bases

Monday | January 13, 2025

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has voiced strong opposition to removing the names of Confederate generals from US military bases, repeatedly saying the names should be changed back.

In a variety of media appearances between 2021 and 2024 that CNN analyzed, Hegseth, a veteran of the National Guard and a longtime Fox News personality, called the renaming efforts “a sham,” “garbage,” and “crap.” The actions, according to Hegseth, undermined military tradition and were a part of a progressive agenda that was politically driven and infiltrating American institutions.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed at the end of the first Trump administration, changed the names of nine US military bases that had previously been named after Confederate leaders between 2022 and 2023. In January 2021, the law was passed after Congress overrode Trump’s original veto, which was partially motivated by his disapproval of the renaming clause.

Hegseth might push for the return of base names to their original Confederate names in his capacity as secretary of defense, but the modifications would need the consent of Congress.
Other cultural changes in the military, such as permitting women to serve in combat roles and allowing gay service members to serve openly, have drawn criticism from Hegseth, whose Senate confirmation hearings start on January 14.
CNN reached out to Hegseth for comment, but he did not reply.
Hegseth regularly denounced the move to rename military bases as an erasure of tradition and legacy on his 2024 book tour in support of “The War on Warriors.”

While promoting his book, he stated forcefully, “We should change it back by the way,” during a podcast discussion about Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg, in North Carolina. “We ought to reverse it. We ought to reverse it. Legacy is important, so we should go back and change it. My uncle was a Bragg soldier. I worked at Bragg. It severs a relationship between generations.

Named for Braxton Bragg, a slave owner and Confederate general who lost almost every battle he fought in during the Civil War, Fort Bragg is one of the biggest Army bases in the United States. According to a name commission that Congress established to research base renaming, Bragg was “widely disliked by peers and subordinates alike in the pre-Civil War U.S. Army and within the Confederate Army” and is “regarded as one of the worst generals of the Civil War.”
Originally known as Camp Bragg, the base opened during World War I and was named by the locals after Bragg, the only North Carolina commander to serve in the Civil War.
In 2023, the base was renamed Fort Liberty.

Trump has steadfastly opposed the renaming of bases that honor Confederate leaders.
At the time of the proposal, Trump stated, “I have been clear in my opposition to politically motivated attempts like this to wash away history and to dishonor the immense progress our country has fought for in realizing our founding principles.”
Hegseth’s comments are consistent with incoming Trump officials’ larger resistance to a variety of cultural initiatives that they see to be unduly progressive.
As CNN has previously reported, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two billionaires entrusted with cutting government waste, are anticipated to suggest an agency-wide reduction in funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

Hegseth provided a long list of DEI-related initiatives that he claims Trump instructed him to eliminate at the Pentagon during an interview with Megyn Kelly in early December.
Hegseth ordered Kelly, “Clean the house of the woke crap.” “Everything like that. Climate change, genderism, the DEI, and critical racial theory. Get rid of it.
Hegseth has opposed the military’s acceptance of openly gay personnel, accusing them of being part of a “Marxist agenda,” as CNN previously reported in December. Additionally, he has voiced his disapproval of women serving in combat capacities, calling it harmful to military preparedness.

“Efforts to rename American military bases represent a trend of viewing the United States solely through the lens of its past sins,” Hegseth said in a 2021 interview with Israeli podcaster Yair Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s the belief that America’s past transgressions define it,” he stated. “That America should only be viewed through the prism that it was founded on the backs of slaves and taken from Native Americans.” As a result, anyone who owned slaves or participated in anything that didn’t advance far enough in their period should be expelled.

The former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. Mark Milley, was specifically targeted by Hegseth, who charged that he was backing the rebranding efforts for political purposes.
Why, Hegseth wondered, did Milley, who had formerly commanded Fort Hood, not object to the titles of Confederate bases early in his career?
Trump’s acknowledged animosity toward Milley, whom he has referred to as “a f**king idiot” and implied might be put to death for treason, is consistent with Hegseth’s accusations.

“What prevented him from yelling about the racist base?” On the June 2024 podcast, Hegseth added. “Oh my god. How on earth am I going to send troops to a racist base for basic training? It needs to be modified. It’s a fraud. He should be chastised for his appearance, which was a charade to appease the chattering class in Washington, DC.
Hegseth also called renaming the bases “crap” and “garbage” in a June 2024 interview.

In 2024, he claimed to have emailed his company commander from his infantry training at Fort Benning, which is now no longer Fort Benning. Fort Moore is the location. Hal Moore is also a wonderful man. However, when you rename Benning and Bragg, a generational connection is also broken. For example, where did you serve? Where did you serve Benning, Bragg? Liberty, where are you serving now? It’s just trash. Let’s just shit all over it, end of story.
Hegseth brought up the topic of Fort Benning, which is currently known as Fort Moore and was named for Confederate General Henry L. Benning.

Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top