Comedy Central’s host of the week of The Daily Show, Jordan Klepper, unleashed two clunkers on Tuesday as he reacted to Secretary of Defense-designate Pete Hegseth’s Senate confirmation hearing. First, Klepper chopped off one of Hegseth’s answers mid-sentence to falsely claim Hegseth has flip-flopped and gone woke on women in combat. Second, Klepper claimed that Hegseth’s obsession with meritocracy is “damning” because Hegseth himself is just a TV host.
Klepper introduced a clip of Hegseth and GOP Sen. Joni Ernst by sarcastically observing, “Maybe he's not good at leadership, or management, or money, or vows, or driving home past 10:00 a.m., but the one thing he does is stand his ground. Tell 'em, Pete, no women in combat roles.”
In the clip, Ernst asked, “Let's make it very clear for everyone here today. As Secretary of Defense, will you support women continuing to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles?” as Hegseth answered, “Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles.”
Klepper responded, “From Washington D.C., the flash, apparently official, at 11:25 standard time, Pete Hegseth went woke.”
Here is Hegseth’s full answer: “Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles, combat roles given the standards remain high.”
Contrary to media reports that he’s having a confirmation conversion, that has always been Hegseth’s position. In the same podcast interview that is cited as evidence that Hegseth is softening his original position to win votes, he said, “I'm okay with the idea that you maintain the standards where they are for everybody. And if there's some, you know, hard-charging female that meets that standard, great, cool, join the infantry battalion. But that is not what's happened.”
As for Klepper, he moved on to other portions of the hearing, “You know, perhaps the most damning comment about Pete Hegseth came from Pete Hegseth himself when he was explaining what the military needs in its leadership.”
That led to a montage where Hegseth frequently used the word “meritocracy” to describe his vision for the Pentagon, “The DEI policies of today are not [jump cut] putting meritocracy first. [jump cut] Every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy. [jump cut] Getting anything that doesn't contribute to meritocracy out of how decisions are made inside the Pentagon. [jump cut] Ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center. Meritocracy. [jump cut] Meritocracy. [jump cut] Meritocracy.”
Klepper was not a fan, “Oh! I know what his next kid's going to be named. You heard him, though. You heard him, folks. A military cannot function unless it's staffed by a system based on pure merit, where only the most qualified people rise to the top. So says your next Secretary of Defense, who will run the most complicated, powerful, deadly organization the world has ever known, and whose only qualification is that Trump liked watching him sit on a couch on Saturday mornings.”
Of course, Hegseth isn’t just a TV host. The man has been mulling over defense issues for years, both as someone who served and as a veterans’ advocate, and after years of policy failures and liberal culture warring, Republicans felt the time was right for an outsider.
Here is a transcript for the January 14 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
1/14/2025
11:08 PM ET
JORDAN KLEPPER: Maybe he's not good at leadership, or management, or money, or vows, or driving home past 10:00 a.m., but the one thing he does is stand his ground. Tell 'em, Pete, no women in combat roles.
JONI ERNST: Let's make it very clear for everyone here today. As Secretary of Defense, will you support women continuing to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles?
PETE HEGSETH: Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles.
JORDAN KLEPPER: From Washington D.C., the flash, apparently official, at 11:25 standard time, Pete Hegseth went woke. You know, perhaps the most damning comment about Pete Hegseth came from Pete Hegseth himself when he was explaining what the military needs in its leadership.
HEGSETH: The DEI policies of today are not [jump cut] putting meritocracy first. [jump cut] Every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy. [jump cut] Getting anything that doesn't contribute to meritocracy out of how decisions are made inside the Pentagon. [jump cut] Ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center. Meritocracy. [jump cut] Meritocracy. [jump cut] Meritocracy.
KLEPPER: Oh! I know what his next kid's going to be named. You heard him, though. You heard him, folks. A military cannot function unless it's staffed by a system based on pure merit, where only the most qualified people rise to the top. So says your next Secretary of Defense, who will run the most complicated, powerful, deadly organization the world has ever known, and whose only qualification is that Trump liked watching him sit on a couch on Saturday mornings. But listening to Republicans today, it seems like that's going to be enough to get him confirmed.
ERIC SCHMITT: I just want to say, for all the talk of experience and not coming from the same cocktail parties that permanent Washington is used to, you are a breath of fresh air.
KLEPPER: Well, that's not what the breathalyzer said, but okay.
