What did Pete Hegseth say about women in combat roles?

(NewsNation) — Comments connected women successful the military made by President-elect Donald Trump's prime to caput the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, person garnered criticism.

“I’m consecutive up conscionable saying we should not person women successful combat roles,” Hegseth said during an quality connected “The Shawn Ryan Show" past week. “It hasn’t made america much effective, it hasn’t made america much lethal, has made warring much complicated.”

While Hegseth said he’s served with women, and they’ve been “great,” institutions shouldn’t person to “incentivize” that successful positions wherever “men are much capable.”

While Hegseth cited a 2015 U.S. Marines Corps study that stated all-male units were faster and much lethal than mixed-gender units, critics said it was biased. Newsweek notes that the lobby radical Women successful International Security called its probe methods "fundamentally flawed." After it came out, then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said helium had problems with the study: namely, that "it started retired with a reasonably ample constituent of the men reasoning this is not a bully idea."

"When you commencement retired with that mindset, you're astir presupposing the outcome," Mabus said.

The 44-year-old existent co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend" served arsenic an infantry skipper successful the Army National Guard and did tours successful Afghanistan and Iraq.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois took Hegseth to task implicit his remarks connected women successful combat roles.

"We can't spell to warfare contiguous without our women subject members," Duckworth said.

Duckworth is an Iraq warfare seasoned and Purple Heart recipient who was 1 of the archetypal women to alert combat missions arsenic a U.S. Army chopper pilot. When her chopper was deed by a grenade successful 2004, she mislaid some legs and immoderate mobility successful her close arm, NewsNation spouse The Hill reports.

If she could speech to Hegseth, “I would inquire him, 'Where bash you deliberation I mislaid my legs, successful a barroom fight?'" Duckworth said successful an interrogation with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Wednesday.

Women successful the military

Overall, the fig of work numbers dropped 2.7% successful 2022, though the percent of women successful the subject inched upward, according to a Department of Defense study from 2023.

Women, the Defense Department says, marque up astir 17.5% of the active-duty force. The fig of uniformed women serving successful peculiar operations, including those successful relation and enactment roles ― has accrued importantly successful caller years.

The wide proportionality of women in peculiar operations forces went up from 7.9% successful 2016 to 12% successful 2023.

More than 2 cardinal of the veterans presently surviving successful the United States are women. They are the fastest increasing radical of veterans arsenic good — by 2040, women are projected to marque up 18% of each veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs said.