This reporter had @SecDef on the ropes, what you didn't hear were these tough questions Hespeth just couldn't cope with:
REPORTER: So just to be clear—you think values don’t matter in war?
HEGSETH: Look, values are great, but you can’t exactly fight off the left with values.
REPORTER: Tell that to the French Resistance, who fought Nazis with nothing but belief before they had weapons. Or to Poland, where underground fighters kept their nation alive despite being occupied by the world’s biggest armies.
HEGSETH: I’m just saying, when it comes down to it, strength wins, not ideals.
REPORTER: Then explain how the U.S. lost in Vietnam, why the Soviets collapsed after Afghanistan, or how Afghanistan itself fought off three empires. Firepower alone doesn’t mean victory—ask Russia, stuck in Ukraine despite superior weapons.
HEGSETH: Well, military power still matters more than words.
REPORTER: And yet, words—values—are why people choose to fight in the first place. Ukraine didn't stand because of weapons; they stood because they refused to be ruled.
HEGSETH: So you’re saying values win wars?
REPORTER: I’m saying values make armies fight harder, longer, and with more purpose—without them, all the firepower in the world means nothing. Just ask the British Empire, the Soviets, or, soon enough, Putin.
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