The Pentagon clarified on Thursday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth supports women’s right to vote, after he reposted a video of a pastor saying the opposite.
“Of course, the secretary thinks that women should have the right to vote. That’s a stupid question,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters during Thursday’s briefing.
Hegseth reposted a video of a CNN segment interviewing self-described Christian Nationalist Pastor Douglas Wilson, who supports repealing the 19th Amendment. Other pastors were featured in the video who also supported the idea, saying families should vote as households and men should cast the ballots.
Hegseth shared the video on X with a message: “All of Christ for All of life.”
“The secretary is a proud member of a church that is affiliated with the congregation of reformed evangelical churches, which was founded by Pastor Doug Wilson,” Kingsley Wilson told reporters. “The secretary very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”
The video also featured Douglas Wilson expressing a desire to make the United States “a Christian nation,” supporting criminalizing gay sex, and claiming that there was a “genuine affection” between slaves and their owners.
Kingsley Wilson declined to say which aspects of the video Hegseth does or doesn’t support.
“[Hegseth] appreciates many of [Douglas Wilson’s] writings and teachings. I’m not going to litigate every single aspect of what he may or may not believe in a certain video,” Kingsley Wilson told reporters.
Hegseth made statements in the past arguing that women should not serve in combat roles, but has since backtracked on those comments, saying he supports all women who serve.
The Pentagon shared in the press conference that over 7,200 more women have enlisted so far this fiscal year than at this point last fiscal year, increasing from 16,700 to nearly 24,000 enlistees.
Kingsley Wilson signaled that Hegseth’s reposting of the video will not affect recruitment numbers for women.
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“We do not anticipate that recruitment will drop,” he said. “Everything we are seeing indicates that it is going to continue to break records and to skyrocket, and that’s for men and women across all of the branches.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Pentagon for comment.