BURSTFormer United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice bucked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s intelligence following weeks of scrutiny over leaks at the Pentagon amid massive spending reductions at the Department of Defense (DOD).
Rice, who previously served as national security adviser in the Obama administration, questioned Hegseth’s proven ability to lead on an international level in conversation with "No Lie With BTC" podcast host Brian Taylor Cohen.
“Well, if you’re a white male Christian cisgender macho MAGA man, you can be as dumb as a rock and be deemed qualified to serve as Secretary of Defense. That’s apparently what we’ve learned from this episode,” Rice said in the clip, highlighted by Mediate.
Her comments come after Hegseth was scrutinized for sending sensitive information in various Signal message threads. Past defense officials have raised concerns with his repeated use of an unsecured platform which may pose a threat to national security.
Rice said in the wake of his actions that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) remains under threat in the second Trump administration and serves as a barrier blocking qualified candidates from reaching high-ranking roles.
“DEI has been used as a slur to suggest that anybody who might be a woman, might be a person of color, might be a religious minority, might have a disability, might be a religious minority, might be a veteran of Native descent, anybody who has benefited in any way, shape, or form from the notion that we all should be treated equally and that we should be viewed on the basis of our merits and not discounted because we happen to be a woman or happen to be a person of color,” Rice told Cohen.
“Anybody who fits the mold of somebody who is not a white Christian cisgender male, is by definition in this administration, deemed inferior,” she added.
In January, President Trump signed multiple executive orders outlawing DEI hiring practices federally and directed officials to weed out similar policies in the private sector.
As a result, corporations have rolled back DEI policies and the country’s top defense leaders were removed from their posts.
Trump removed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in February in part due to his past comments in support of diversity while Hegseth fired Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Jim Slife and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, the first woman to be on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for similar reasons.
“Any general that was involved — general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s‑‑‑ has got to go. Either you’re in for warfighting, and that’s it. That’s the only litmus test we care about,” Hegseth said during a podcast prior to his appointment.
Rice said the new policies are set to negatively impact the “vast majority” of people in the country.
The Hill has contacted the DOD for comment.