By Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, CNN

(CNN) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has repeatedly criticized policies allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military, calling them part of a “Marxist” agenda to prioritize social justice over combat readiness.

In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors” and in subsequent media promotions this year, Hegseth described both the original “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy and its repeal in 2011 as a “gateway” and a “camouflage” for broader cultural changes that he claims have undermined military cohesion and effectiveness.

In a 2015 appearance on Fox News, Hegseth also argued these policies like repealing DADT “erode standards” in favor of political goals like social engineering.

DADT was implemented under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and allowed gay people and lesbians to serve in the military — provided they did not disclose their sexuality. Military officials were also barred from asking military members their sexual orientation. If a troop’s orientation came to light, it could lead to their discharge.

The policy was repealed during the Obama administration, allowing openly gay service members.

Hegseth writes in his book that he was initially ambivalent to the change but came to regret his passive stance, describing the repeal as a “breach in the wire” that opened the door for broader cultural and ideological changes in the military.

On Thursday, Hegseth appeared to walk back his earlier remarks about DADT, telling CNN, “Oppose the repeal? No, I don’t,” and calling this report on his previous comments “more false reporting.”

A former Fox News host, Hegseth, 44, joined the Minnesota Army National Guard in 2002 and served for nearly 20 years before retiring as a major. He deployed to Guantanamo Bay, where he served as an infantry platoon leader, and later served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, among other awards for his service.

In his book, Hegseth wrote he was getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan when the repeal of DADT was put into effect.

“Our commander briefed the unit, peppered with a few jokes,” he wrote. “You know, infantry stuff. We mostly laughed it off and moved on. America was at war. Gays and lesbians were already serving in the military. I had seen the enemy with my own eyes. We needed everybody.”

Hegseth says he now regrets that view, “Not because I have a newfound ax to grind with gay Americans,” he wrote. “But because I naïvely believed that’s what ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was all about. Once again, our good faith was used against us,” he added. “The Left never gives an inch, and always takes a mile.”

Hegseth has been outspoken about what he calls “woke” policies that he believes have undermined the US military, including allowing women to serve in combat roles and transgender members to serve openly. Hegseth writes these changes are the consequence of the “social justice tinkering” that started with DADT.

Speaking on Fox News in 2015, Hegseth expanded on his criticism, claiming that such policies were an erosion of standards.

“And what you’re seeing is a military right now that is more interested in social engineering led by this president than they are in war fighting,” he said in comments first reported by Meidas News. “So as a result, through ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and women in the military and these standards, they’re going to inevitably start to erode standards because they want that one female special operator, that one female Green Beret, that one female Army Ranger, that one female Navy SEAL.”

“So they can put them on a recruiting poster and feel good about themselves and has nothing to do with national security,” he added. “And these war fighters are realizing they’re just going to start ticking away at the standards until they get one.”

Hegseth in his book does not reference any specific examples of incidents to support his argument that gay individuals openly serving has been detrimental to the military.

In a comment to CNN, a Trump transition spokesperson declined to say what specific policies Hegseth might pursue as secretary of defense, including whether he would reinstate “don’t ask, don’t tell” or implement changes to current standards.

“Like President Trump, Pete wants to see the U.S. military focus on being the world’s strongest fighting force - not on cultural and social issues. Bottom line: If you can meet the standards, you can serve,” the spokesperson said. “But given the threats we face, our priorities shouldn’t be lowering standards and wasting taxpayer money to meet arbitrary social quotas - our priorities should be readiness and lethality.”

In private discussions with senators, Hegseth has also indicated he is not against women serving in combat roles so long as they meet a standard set for all warfighters.

Asked by CNN Wednesday about his past comments on women in combat roles, Hegseth said he supports “all women serving in our military.” He didn’t answer when asked if he thinks getting rid of “don’t ask, don’t tell” was a mistake.

In 2016, under the Obama administration, the Pentagon lifted the ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the military, allowing them to receive medical care and update their gender identification while serving.

The policy was reversed under Trump, with then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis implementing a 2018 policy barring those diagnosed with gender dysphoria from serving, except in limited cases. President Joe Biden repealed the Trump-era ban in 2021.

The ban on women serving in ground combat units was lifted in 2013 and, in 2016, all US military combat positions were opened to them. That included infantry, armor, reconnaissance, and some special operations units.

Women account for 17.5% of the Defense Department’s active-duty force, according to 2022 data from the Pentagon.

Over the years, surveys have shown an increase in the share of Americans who support gay individuals serving openly in the military. In 2010, Pew Research showed 58% in favor, up from 52% in 1994. By 2013, 66% o?f Americans supported allowing women to serve in combat roles, according to Pew Research polls. A poll from Morning Consult in 2016 found that 74% of registered voters support allowing women to serve in combat roles in the military.

A 2015 RAND Corporation survey found that 5.8% of active-duty service members identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and 0.6% identified as transgender, reflecting a similar proportion to the civilian population. Still, a 2020 study in the journal “Sexuality Research and Social Policy” found that 59% of LGBTQ+ service members were uncomfortable being “out.”

This October, the Pentagon updated more than 800 records of service members who were kicked out of the military under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to receive honorable discharges. The change now allows service members to access eligible benefits previously denied to them, such as home loans, healthcare and GI Bill tuition assistance.

In an episode of “the Ben Shapiro Show” this summer, Hegseth claimed that “a lot of people” who initially supported the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” now regret their involvement in the policy change, citing one example of an anonymous gay soldier who says he now regrets supporting the repeal of DADT because it opened the door to a “trans agenda” in the military.

Speaking on “the Ben Shapiro Show” in June, Hegseth criticized a military ad campaign featuring a soldier with two lesbian mothers, calling it emblematic of a larger shift toward individualism in military culture.

“It started with Clinton under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” he said. “Trying to change that policy. And then when he did, there was a lot of criticism on that.”

“At least when it was an ‘Army of One,’ they were, you know, tough looking, go get ‘em army – but you’re right, that was the subtle shifting toward an individual ad campaign,” he said earlier. “Now you just have the absurdity of ‘I have two mommies and I’m so proud to show them that I can wear the uniform too.’ So they, it’s just like everything else the Marxists and the leftists have done. At first it was camouflaged nicely and now they’re just, they’re just open about it.”

In another interview in November on a podcast, Hegseth again argued “don’t ask, don’t tell” was the beginning of the “tinkering” of the military for social justice.

“So it started, you know, we saw it under Clinton with the tinkering of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and the reasons for those changes,” Hegseth said on a podcast promoting his book. “And I talked to some of the people involved in when that was changed, but it really happened, started to accelerate under Obama.”

At another event in 2016, Hegseth cited “women in combat” and the repeal of DADT as policies pushed by “political house cats” in the military favored by the Obama administration.

“It was stuff like, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ which was their immediate target, right? Right out the gate,” Hegseth said. “We need to change that and – say what you want about what about that, people are passionate on that issue. But it was most centrally, uh, demonstrated with women in combat this idea that there’ll be gender neutrality and selection.”

This story has been updated with Hegseth comments on Thursday.

CNN’s Manu Raju and Alison Main contributed to this report.

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