A decade of live television sharpened Pete Hegseth so much so that even Senate Democrats acknowledged his ability to mobilize the talking point during a confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee, marking another battle in an ongoing culture war.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he would back Hegseth to be the next “spokesperson for the Pentagon,” assuring President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, “I don’t dispute your communication skills.” Later, not halfway through the hearing, Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono felt compelled to remind the quick-witted nominee, “You are no longer on Fox and Friends.”

The former Fox News host might as well have been. The cross-examination was little different than the heated debates over ideology, personal morality, and institutions that drive ratings on cable news. More pundit than politician, Hegseth was characteristically blunt about the mission Trump wants him to pursue if confirmed: Root anything “woke” out of the Pentagon and “restore a warrior culture to the Department of Defense.”

Unlike many of his predecessors, Hegseth is not a retired general or seasoned government official and he has comparatively limited executive experience. He is a combat veteran and television anchor with ivy league degrees. But the former Army major’s main qualification in the eyes of the incoming administration is a rejection of political correctness in the military. In Tuesday’s committee hearing, he did not blink or abandon the views he has expressed for years in print and on air.

He delivered a full-throated condemnation of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies that were hallmarks of the Biden Pentagon. “This is not a time for equity,” the nominee said, arguing instead for “equality” among the ranks that emphasizes meritocracy in pursuit of a common purpose, not prescribed outcomes and quotas based on immutable characteristics like race, gender, or sexual orientation.

“Equality is the bedrock of our military, men and women, duty positions in uniform, black, white, doesn’t matter. We treat you equally based on who you are in the image of God as an individual. And we all get the same bad haircuts. You’re not an individual. You’re part of a group,” Hegseth said.

Republicans loved that they were hearing from a nominee who said many of the same things Trump said to get elected.........

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