Taken together, Hegseth’s tattoos seem to convey his affinity for a “God and guns” brand of conservative patriotism. However, given how some of these symbols have been co-opted by far-right white nationalist groups, they have raised alarm bells.
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In fact, Hegseth was flagged by a fellow service member as a possible “insider threat” in January 2021 because of his “Deus Vult” tattoo, according to Associated Press (AP). He was subsequently “stood down from active duty” protecting President Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to Yahoo! News.
Following AP’s report last week, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance quickly came to Hegseth’s defense, saying in a social media post, “They’re attacking Pete Hegseth for having a Christian motto tattooed on his arm. This is disgusting anti-Christian bigotry from the AP, and the entire organization should be ashamed of itself.”
“Anti-Christian bigotry in the media on full display,” Hegseth said in a social media post of his own. “They can target me—I don’t give a damn—but this type of targeting of Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop on DAY ONE at DJT’s DoD.”
Accusations of Sexual Assault Resurface
In addition to the concerns about Hegseth’s tattoos, The Washington Post revealed in a report on Saturday (Nov. 16) that Hegseth had previously agreed in a nondisclosure agreement to pay a woman who accused him of sexual assault.
Hegseth maintains that the encounter, which occurred in 2017, was consensual.
Hegseth’s attorney told The Washington Post that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” during the encounter and that when the woman filed a report with the police several days later, investigators concluded that she “had been the aggressor in the encounter.”
The incident reportedly took place in Monterey, California, where Hegseth was speaking at a California Federation of Republican Women conference. After speaking, he reportedly went to the hotel bar with several conference attendees.
The accuser was on staff with the California Federation of Republican Women, and part of her role was reportedly to ensure that Hegseth made it back to his hotel room and that he left in time for the airport the next morning. She alleges that she received a text from women who were at the bar saying that Hegseth was becoming aggressive, and so she went to intervene.
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But the accuser said that she has lost all memory of what happened after the women left the bar and that her next conscious memory was being in Hegseth’s hotel room. The accuser said that after remembering hazily that she had been raped, she went to the emergency room and received a rape-kit examination. The results were positive for semen.
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