'He's threatened by women': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams Pete Hegseth over promotion blocks

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took a dig at Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, stating that since he felt threatened by women of color, he was refusing to promote them in the military. Ocasio-Cortez was asked about her opinion on Secretary Hegseth not promoting a host of Army personnel. "I mean, he’s an unqualified man in his role, so of course he's threatened by women who are twice as good as he is," she said.

Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the Secretary of Defense had blocked the promotions of seven senior Navy officers, five of whom were women or people of color, to the rank of admiral. The move has been deemed highly unusual, and it means that there won't be any active female naval officers for the first time in over a decade. Of late, Hegseth has been on a firing spree, removing several high-ranking military officials and blocking multiple promotions.

The Times claims that more than half of those fired or removed from promotion lists were female or Black. Unfortunately for the Secretary of Defense, he has not received much support for his sweeping decisions from members of his own party. Maine Senator Susan Collins expressed disappointment over such moves, calling them troubling. "I find this deeply troubling," she said during an appropriations hearing, as per The Hill. "These are men and women who volunteered to serve our country and swore an oath to support and defend our Constitution."

Her comments came on Tuesday after Hegseth removed more than two dozen senior military officers since taking charge of the Pentagon. The Maine Senator also raised concern about reports that suggested that women and people of color were "disproportionately" sidelined. "The United States military is one of the greatest meritocracies in the free world," she said. "We need to make sure that it stays that way."

The criticism against the Secretary of Defense's decision has been loud and relentless. Rep. Jamie Raskin called Hegseth a misogynist and a racist in the wake of such actions, even questioning his drinking habits. "Hegseth is a straight-up racist and misogynistic guy. I don't know why we never followed up on his promise that he would stop drinking because that seems rather dubious at this point. He's a racist, a sexist, a misogynist, an anti-immigrant, a bigot, and a would-be theocrat. He is denigrating and degrading our armed forces," he said.

Rep. Summer Lee believes that the position of the Pentagon under Hegseth has always been a lack of belief in DEI programs, and that it has been the case across all departments under the current administration. "I am not shocked that they are not promoting women. I am also not shocked that they have not been promoting Black folks across agencies," she said. "When somebody shows you who they are or tells you who they are, you need to believe them. And they have told us they have no intention of having an equitable society."