ABC’s The View reacted as one would expect on Tuesday to Secretary of Defense-designate Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing the previous day. The table’s nominal Republican, Alyssa Farah Griffin, applauded Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s strange questioning about ASEAN while Joy Behar implied GOP Sen. Joni Ernst has betrayed her fellow sexual assault survivors by supporting Hegseth’s nomination.
Farah Griffin claimed that, “I thought that Tammy Duckworth was the most effective because she challenged him on facts and duties of the job, and he came up short. He didn't know what ASEAN is. I have been to the ASEAN Summit. I can name the countries that are in it, and I am woefully unqualified to be the Secretary of Defense.”
ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is not a military alliance. It is a vital trading partner and some of its members, Thailand and, most notably, the Philippines, have defense treaties with the United States, but it is possible Hegseth was just confused why Duckworth was talking about an economic union at a military hearing.
Farah Griffin continued, “I kind of wish one or two did that because I think Dems still think we're still living in an episode of The West Wing, where, like, moral failings, everyone's going to get onboard and be like ‘This is not okay.’ It's not the world we live in. We just elected Donald Trump. I think focusing on 'hey, name the combatant commands, who heads them up, where are they located? Talk about the future naval fleet.' Ask him questions about the job he's not prepared for."
Ironically, the sorry state of the Navy is one of the top reasons why Republicans think an outsider like Hegseth is needed. Decades of conventional DOD appointments have paid lip service to the idea of rebuilding the Navy but failed to deliver.
Later, Behar took the opposite approach and focused on Hegseth’s personal life and Ernst’s support of his nomination, “I haven't done much to add to this. I mean, it's depressing, the whole thing. He's so smug. He just sits there because he knows the fix is in. You know, he knows all he has to do is be loyal to Trump and he's in and the rest of them just follow suit, even Joni Ernst, that was rather disappointing, she's a victim of sexual assault, and she's rolling over also for him.”
She also attacked the FBI, “And also, the FBI did not do their due diligence. I mean, they didn't even bother to talk to the woman who credibly accused him of sexual assault in 2017, just like they really were remiss when it came to Kavanaugh.”
FBI background investigations are not there to relitigate previous legal cases. Behar’s cluelessness aside, Farah Griffin later returned to her love for Duckworth as the senator joined the show:
Senator, thank you for being with us. I thought that your questioning was by far the most effective yesterday and want to ask you, there was obviously a lot of focus on allegations around sexual misconduct, important issues to raise, but I worry that there may have not been enough focus on what you skillfully highlighted, which is that Pete Hegseth would be the single least qualified person to have ever held the position of Secretary of Defense. Did you think that there should have been a greater focus on that, knowing that in the Trump-era sometimes allegations just don't stick with some?
The View is not where people go to get their DOD history lessons, but if it wants to talk about history’s least qualified Defense Secretary, that would be Louis Johnson, who was appointed to the job because he was Harry Truman’s top fundraising hack and thought eliminating the Navy and the Marine Corps was a good idea.
For her part, Duckworth responded:
I couldn't agree with you more, and he is a very glib individual, so every time he was asked questions, he flipped the script and talked around it and filibustered and really, you know, basically put women on trial. He said we needed to prove that we are good enough to be in combat. Well, the hearing wasn't about whether or not we should lower standards for women or anybody else but the hearing was about him asking us to lower standards for him and he couldn't answer the most basic questions about the role, the job, and the duties of the Secretary of Defense, a position he wants to hold.
Doesn’t everyone need to prove they are good enough to be in combat? Regardless, Hegseth talked about those topics because that is what he was asked about, because people like Duckworth want their strawman version of Hegseth to be the one viewed by the American people as reality.
Here is a transcript for the January 15 show:
ABC The View
1/15/2025
11:04 AM ET
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I thought that Tammy Duckworth was the most effective because she challenged him on facts and duties of the job, and he came up short. He didn't know what ASEAN is. I have been to the ASEAN Summit. I can name the countries that are in it, and I am woefully unqualified to be the Secretary of Defense.
I actually would have preferred, though. I get calling out the moral failings, I kind of wish one or two did that because I think Dems still think we're still living in an episode of The West Wing, where, like, moral failings, everyone's going to get onboard and be like "This is not okay."
It's not the world we live in. We just elected Donald Trump. I think focusing on “hey, name the combatant commands, who heads them up, where are they located? Talk about the future naval fleet.” Ask him questions about the job he's not prepared for.
…
JOY BEHAR: I haven't done much to add to this. I mean, it's depressing, the whole thing. He's so smug. He just sits there because he knows the fix is in. You know, he knows all he has to do is be loyal to Trump and he's in and the rest of them just follow suit, even Joni Ernst, that was rather disappointing, she's a victim of sexual assault, and she's rolling over also for him.
SUNNY HOSTIN: And combat.
BEHAR: And also, the FBI did not do their due diligence. I mean, they didn't even bother to talk to the woman who credibly accused him of sexual assault in 2017, just like they really were remiss when it came to Kavanaugh.
…
FARAH GRIFFIN: Senator, thank you for being with us. I thought that your questioning was by far the most effective yesterday and want to ask you, there was obviously a lot of focus on allegations around sexual misconduct, important issues to raise, but I worry that there may have not been enough focus on what you skillfully highlighted, which is that Pete Hegseth would be the single least qualified person to have ever held the position of Secretary of Defense. Did you think that there should have been a greater focus on that, knowing that in the Trump-era sometimes allegations just don't stick with some?
TAMMY DUCKWORTH: I couldn't agree with you more, and he is a very glib individual, so every time he was asked questions, he flipped the script and talked around it and filibustered and really, you know, basically put women on trial.
He said we needed to prove that we are good enough to be in combat. Well, the hearing wasn't about whether or not we should lower standards for women or anybody else but the hearing was about him asking us to lower standards for him and he couldn't answer the most basic questions about the role, the job, and the duties of the Secretary of Defense, a position he wants to hold.
