Navy SEALs, veterans plan march to support Pete Hegseth’s DOD confirmation

Navy SEAL veteran Bill "Freak" Brown, the founder of the New York City SEAL Swim across the Hudson River, is organizing the event. Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran, has participated in the Hudson River event for several years.

Alec Lace, a friend of Hegseth’s and host of The Alec Lace Show, told Breitbart, "Pete Hegseth has been a monumental part of promoting that Navy SEALs Swim. He swam across the Hudson River a number of years in a row. And so, he’s been a big advocate for the Navy SEALs and now that he needs help, the Navy SEALs, Bill Brown has turned around and they are going to be helping Pete Hegseth in any way that they can."

Lace said that SEALS "immediately jumped on to sign up to go and support him." The march is set to take place on the same day as Hegseth’s Senate confirmation hearing. Lace said that Army, Navy, and Marine Corps veterans, as well as Gold Star parents and members of the New York Fire Department, have signed up for the march.

Some prominent Navy SEAL veterans as well as notable figures have signed up to participate, including retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. "The list continues to grow. If you’re a patriot, if you’re a vet, you’re more than welcome to sign up and join the cause here."

Lace said the support for Hegseth from veterans has been "overwhelming." He said, "They really feel passionate about this cause. They want to see changes in our military. They’ve seen it getting weakened with this woke ideology that has taken over and just made its way into the military at the highest levels. They’re sick and tired of it. These guys are war fighters.”

"They don’t want to see the way that our military has been degraded over the last few years with this last administration and they want something to be done about it. And so they’re making their voices heard loud and proud and, and they are 100 percent behind Hegseth," he added. "I think you’re going to be surprised by the amount of people that actually show up there that are gonna be supporting Pete. So if you want to join the fight, sign up and get on board."

Trump said that he is still confident that Hegseth will be appointed, telling Meet the Press’ Kristen Welker, "He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him through Fox, but I’ve known him for a long time. And he’s basically a military guy. Every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military," adding that Hegseth is a "fantastic" choice for the role.

Hegseth’s appointment has faced pushback from Democrats and uncertainty from some Republicans, such as Senator Joni Ernst, who has not explicitly said that she supports Hegseth for Defense Secretary but has said recently that she is at least willing to listen, per Newsmax.

A piece published in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday questioned whether Hegseth, alongside fellow veterans and Trump cabinet nominee Tulsi Gabbard and Vice President-elect JD Vance can effectively run the country’s national security institutions.

The outlet wrote that Hegseth, who was part of the Charlie Company under regiment commander Michael Steele and was dubbed the "Kill Company" by some, and has "defended increasingly aggressive wartime actions by troops.”

Some in the company were court-martialed Hegseth on charges related to killing Iraqis. Hegseth later argued that generals and politicians hamstrung them and “successfully lobbied for pardons for some of them and spoke with increasing disdain for the policymakers who sent them to fight,” the outlet reported.