For many, it is a mockery or a joke in bad taste, but not for the next president of the United States, Donald Trump, who has named Pete Hegseth, yes, the Fox News television presenter, as the next Secretary of Defense, who, among other things, is accused of sexual assault.
Hegseth is young, just 44 years old, but that is enough for Trump.
The Forest Lake, Minnesota, native, although a member of the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deployed to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and awarded two Bronze Stars, has no high-ranking military or national security experience.
However, Trump developed a friendship with the host of Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends Weekend" after making several appearances on the show.
This has proven that Trump rewards friendship much more than experience.
The role Hegseth would inherit is one of enormous challenges, especially when there are a number of global crises: the war between Russia and Ukraine, attacks by groups linked to Iran in the Middle East, the dire situation between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah, where Palestine has suffered irreversible consequences, and the increasing levels of nuclear weapons by Russia and North Korea.
On the other hand, but no less scandalous, the next Secretary of Defense is accused of sexual harassment.
A police report released Wednesday night provides graphic details about an allegation of sexual assault. The document also notes that Hegseth has vehemently denied forcing himself on the complainant, whose name has not been released.
According to the report, the woman told police she ended up in Hegseth's hotel room after he spoke at the California Federation of Republican Women's October 2017 conference at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa.
The complainant said Hegseth took her phone, locked the door of her hotel room when she tried to leave and sexually assaulted her, ejaculating on her stomach. She said she did not remember what happened and that she had drunk much more alcohol than usual throughout the day.
Hegseth said he repeatedly asked the woman for consent to have sex, making sure she "felt comfortable with what was happening," including the fact that he was not using a condom.
The accusation has made it difficult for Hegseth to lead the Defense Department next year, but no changes have been mentioned in the job.
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