Back before he was confirmed into his role, Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth had to appear before the Senate for a confirmation hearing, which occurred on the morning of Tuesday, January 14. As could be expected, some of the Democrats questioning him absolutely lost it, such as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who had a full-on meltdown that involved yelling, rambling, and slamming her desk.
What appears to have sparked her meltdown is Hegseth’s having commented on the issue of if women can participate in combat roles for the United States military. Speaking on the Shawn Ryan Show in the past, for example, he said, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated,”
Similarly, in his book, he noted that there are numerous roles in the military that women can perform well in, but that “women in the infantry — women in combat on purpose — is another story.” He added, “women cannot physically meet the same standards as men.” He added, “Dads push us to take risks. Moms put the training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially in combat units.”
Sen. Gillibrand lost his mind over Hegseth’s view of women in the military. During the hearing, she snapped, “You’re basically saying women, after they have children, can’t ever serve in the military in a combat role.” She added, “It’s it’s it’s a it’s a silly thing to say. It’s a silly thing to say beneath the position that you are aspiring to. To denigrate LGBTQ service members is is a mistake.”
As she commented on Hegseth’s views of what military roles women can do well, Sen. Gillibrand got very animated and agitated. Shouting at him over his views, she also slammed her hands on her desk and bounced between points and topics, seemingly so angry about the matter that she was unable to stay on topic.
As could be expected, conservative commenters on social media had a field day with Sen. Gillibrand’s antics. For example, Eric Daugherty said, ” BREAKING: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand slams her desk, yells at Pete Hegseth again, and is unable to stick to one, coherent topic or ask questions relevant to the job as secretary of defense.”
Agreeing to Daugherty, a commenter said, “This unhinged outburst perfectly encapsulates the chaos we’ve come to expect from these performative grandstanders. Gillibrand’s desk-slamming and incoherent tirade show she’s more interested in mimicking extreme antics than engaging in substantive discourse—just another act for these unhinged lunatic Karens.”
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Also chiming in was Collin Rugg, who wrote that Sen. Gillibrand was acting like an actor with her freakout, writing, “JUST IN: Sen Kristen Gillibrand has a total meltdown during Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, whines about his comments regarding transgenders in the military. This is what a professional actor looks like, folks.”
Watch the ignominious incident here, with Sen. Gillibrand having an utter meltdown while trying to question Hegseth:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video