MSNBC’s Chris Hayes delivered a scathing critique of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections, calling them “unqualified and lackluster” in an op-ed published Wednesday. Hayes reserved his sharpest criticism for Trump’s controversial choice of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, describing the pick as emblematic of the MAGA movement’s contradictions.
“That is the sum total of his career qualifications,” Hayes wrote after outlining Hegseth’s background. “That, and the fact he’s a Fox News weekend host that Trump likes to look at — and no shade at cable news hosts, but I wouldn’t just be picking them at random to run the U.S. military.”
What Hayes found most troubling was the Republican Party’s enthusiastic embrace of Hegseth, a figure he described as “manifestly unqualified for virtually any government job.” Hayes accused Republicans of hypocrisy for rallying behind Hegseth while vilifying diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as detrimental to government standards.
“They did it again in Tuesday’s hearing, displaying a poster that suggested DEI has killed military standards — a poster in which Republicans misspelled the word ‘military’ as ‘military,’” Hayes noted. “All while Hegseth sat there, enjoying the perverse Republican version of affirmative action for lackluster associates of Trump.”
The hypocrisy of the situation was underscored during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, where Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) confronted the nominee. Hayes highlighted Duckworth’s powerful remarks: “How can we ask these warriors to train and perform to the absolute highest standards when you are asking us to lower the standards to make you the secretary of defense simply because you are buddies with our president-elect?”
Hayes argued that the Republican Party’s willingness to back Hegseth’s scandal-plagued nomination reveals the extent of their loyalty to Trump. “If Republicans are willing to move forward with Hegseth’s nomination,” he wrote, “there is no limit to how abject they will be in their pursuit of Trump.”
Hayes concluded by pointing to what he described as the “gross, indeed, dangerous hypocrisy” of prioritizing loyalty to Trump over competence, warning of the implications for national security and governance.
The op-ed encapsulates Hayes’ concern over the prioritization of political allegiance at the expense of merit, as Trump’s cabinet nominations set the stage for a contentious confirmation process.