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Hegseth in 2016 repeatedly warned troops shouldn't follow Trump's unlawful orders [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2025-12-08  

In 2016, Pete Hegseth had a message for American troops: don't follow unlawful orders from Donald Trump.

CNN's KFile unearthed multiple appearances where the then-Fox News contributor warned that service members had a duty to refuse illegal commands. "The military's not gonna follow illegal orders," Hegseth said on Fox Business. "You're not just gonna follow that order if it's unlawful," he said on Fox & Friends.

At the time, candidate Trump was drawing criticism for proposals military lawyers said would violate the laws of war — killing terrorists' families, reviving torture beyond waterboarding. "Here's the problem with Trump," Hegseth told Megyn Kelly. "He says, 'Go ahead and kill the family. Go ahead and torture.' What happens when people follow those orders, or don't follow them? It's not clear that Donald Trump will have their back."

Fast forward to December 2025. Secretary of Defense Hegseth has branded six Democratic lawmakers the "Seditious Six" for urging troops to disobey illegal orders related to the administration's boat strikes — strikes that some lawmakers from both parties believe may have crossed legal lines. He's ordered a Pentagon investigation into Senator Mark Kelly.

The same concern Hegseth once voiced publicly is now, when voiced by others, "despicable, reckless, and false" information worthy of investigation.

It's not hypocrisy if you don't remember saying it, apparently.

Previously:

• Pete Hegseth turns alleged extrajudicial killings into parody of a children's story book

• Pete Hegseth suggests he 'will shoot protestors in the legs' if asked by Trump (video)

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/12/08/hegseth-in-2016-repeatedly-warned-troops-shouldnt-follow-trumps-unlawful-orders.html

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