J.D. Vance Slams the AP for “Insider Threat” Hit Piece on Pete Hegseth Over Christianity-Themed Tattoos
by Kristinn Taylor Nov. 15, 2024 7:40 pm361 Comments
Vice President-Elect Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) slammed the Associated Press on Friday for a hit piece against President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, that dubbed him an alleged “Insider Threat” over his Christianity-themed tattoos. The best selling author and Fox News host Hegseth, 44, is a nearly 20-year Army National Guard officer who fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, rising to the rank of Major while earning two Bronze Stars. Vance, 40, is a Marine veteran of the Iraq war.
The AP tried to smear Hegseth as a possible white supremacist in an article about how he was barred from National Guard service during Joe Biden’s inaugural in January 2021 after he was reported by a fellow service member for having alleged extremist tattoos: One of a Jerusalem Cross and another that says, “Deus Vult,” (God wills it.) At the time, the anti-Trump Pentagon was starting to root out conservatives from the service in the wake of the January 6 riot at the Capitol by labeling them “Insider Threats.”
The AP’s Pentagon reporter Tara Copp posted her article to X with the caption, “Pete Hegseth, the Army National Guard veteran and Fox News host nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Defense, was flagged as a possible “Insider Threat” by a fellow service member due to a tattoo he has that’s associated with white supremacists.”