‘Very Concerned’ Congressman Blasts Trump Nomination: ‘I Don’t Think Hegseth is a Serious Person and a Serious Pick’

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) told Morning Joe he was “very concerned” that President-elect Donald Trump nominated now-former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.

On Tuesday evening, Trump shocked the political media world when he named the former Army National Guard Infantry Officer and Ivy League grad, turned Fox News host and best-selling author, as the Defense Secretary to sit in his cabinet for this second term. Even Hegseth’s Fox & Friends colleagues were caught off guard by the announcement.

Ryan is a graduate of West Point and serves on the House Armed Services Committee. During a Wednesday Morning Joe appearance, co-host Jonathan Lemire said “You are a veteran. You also sit on the armed services committee. So we want to get your reaction to Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon. He, most recently, of course, a Fox News host.”

Lemire then flatly asked, “Do you believe he is qualified to lead the Department of Defense?”

“This is an incredibly serious time in the world,” Rep. Ryan replied. “It’s an incredibly serious cabinet position. And I don’t think Hegseth is a serious person and a serious pick. And, sadly, it’s not surprising coming from Trump who dodged a draft five times and called our troops suckers and losers and insulted gold star families and honor recipients and trampled on the sacred ground of Arlington National Cemetery.”

“I’m not surprised that he picked a Fox News host rather than someone who is going to understand the seriousness of the moment,” he added. “I’m very concerned about what this means because we have even seen today reporting from The Wall Street Journal, talking about executive orders that are essentially military purges and political purity tests when our military has always been apolitical nonpartisan patriots. Not a political-military.”

“That is a very dangerous road that we could head down, and on the armed services, I’m going to be incredibly focused on the armed services committee making sure that we don’t go down that road,” he concluded.

Watch above via MSNBC.