(WASHINGTON) — Just months after calling for his ouster, incoming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was greeted at the Pentagon on Monday by Gen. CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Brown saluted Hegseth as his motorcade arrived, then shook his hand as the two exchanged pleasantries. With Brown by his side, Hegseth approached a line of waiting reporters and took several questions, including one on whether he intends to fire the general.
“I’m standing with him right now,” Hegseth said, patting Brown, only the second Black officer after Colin Powell to serve in the job, on the shoulder. “I look forward to working with him.”
Hegseth’s past comments on Brown were not so sanguine.
“First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth said in a November appearance on the “Shawn Ryan Show,” days before President Donald Trump nominated him to lead the Defense Department.
He continued, “But any general that was involved — general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s— has got to go. Either you’re in for warfighting, and that’s it. That’s the only litmus test we care about.”
Hegseth also lambasted Brown several times in his book, “The War on Warriors.”
“The military standards, once the hallmark for competency, professionalism, and ‘mission first’ outcomes, have officially been subsumed by woke priorities,” he wrote. “You think CQ Brown will think intuitively about external threats and internal readiness? No chance. He built his generalship dutifully pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians, who in turn rewarded him with promotions.”
Brown has been vocal about what he sees as the importance of race-based diversity in the military. In 2022, while chief of staff of the Air Force, Brown signed a memo calling for the service to work toward lowering the percentage of white officer applicants while raising those of other races.
“These goals are aspirational, aligning resources to invest in our long-term objectives and will not be used in any manner that undermines our merit-based processes,” the memo said.
In his new role, Hegseth could recommend removing Brown and other military leaders, and Trump would have the authority to do so.
Both Hegseth and Trump have sharply criticized military leaders involved in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan as well as those allegedly pushing “woke” ideology. While there could be legal challenges in trying to outright kick generals or admirals out of the military should they refuse a request to resign, the commander in chief has the authority to remove senior officers from their current positions and reassign them, effectively ending their careers.
Brown drew praise for a June 2020 video titled “Here’s what I’m thinking about” that he released in response to the nationwide protests and unrest sparked by Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.
In the highly personal video, Brown recounted his own experiences with racism and his perspective as a Black man and Black military leader.
There were some positive signs for Brown even before Monday’s polite greeting, when he had an amiable encounter with Trump at last month’s Army-Navy football game.
During the second quarter, Trump and Brown talked for roughly 20 minutes about football as well as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, a U.S. official told ABC News. Brown also had a quick introduction and handshake with Hegseth at the game.
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