The Associated Press has begun attacking Pete Hegseth tonight, publishing an email from a fellow National Guard member who expressed concern over Christian tattoos that Hegseth has on his arm and chest.

The National Guard member suggested that the tattoos Hegseth had on his chest and bicep represented white supremacy, despite them being overtly Christian in nature.

Hegseth was then pulled from guarding Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration.

Now the AP is publishing this email so as to try and smear Hegseth before he goes through the Senate confirmation process to lead the DOD.

Here’s what the AP writes:

Pete Hegseth, the Army National Guard veteran and Fox News host nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Defense, was flagged as a possible “Insider Threat” by a fellow service member due to a tattoo on his bicep that’s associated with white supremacist groups.

Hegseth, who has downplayed the role of military members and veterans in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and railed against the Pentagon’s subsequent efforts to address extremism in the ranks, has said he was pulled by his District of Columbia National Guard unit from guarding Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration. He’s said he was unfairly identified as an extremist due to a cross tattoo on his chest.

This week, however, a fellow Guard member who was the unit’s security manager and on an anti-terrorism team at the time, shared with The Associated Press an email he sent to the unit’s leadership flagging a different tattoo reading “Deus Vult” that’s been used by white supremacists, concerned it was an indication of an “Insider Threat.”

Hegseth has complained that he himself was labeled an extremist by the D.C. National Guard and said he was prevented from serving during Biden’s inauguration, a few weeks after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, because of a cross tattoo on his chest. He said he decided to end his military service shortly after that in disgust.

But a fellow Guard member who was working as a security officer ahead of the inauguration gave AP an email he sent that showed him raising concerns about a different tattoo.

Retired Master Sgt. DeRicko Gaither, who was serving as the D.C. Army National Guard’s physical security manager and on its anti-terrorism force protection team in January 2021, told the AP that he received an email from a former D.C. Guard member that included a screenshot of a social media post that included two photos showing several of Hegseth’s tattoos.

Gaither told AP he researched the tattoos — including one of a Jerusalem Cross and the context of the words “Deus Vult,” Latin for “God wills it,” on his bicep — and determined they had sufficient connection to extremist groups to elevate the email to his commanding officers.

Several of Hegseth’s tattoos are associated with an expression of religious faith, according to Heidi Beirich of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, but they have also been adopted by some far right groups and violent extremists. Their meaning depends on context, she said.

Former Navy intelligence officer Travis Akers was the person who initially saw the photos on a group chat, then researched them and decided to post the photos to social media. Those images were then seen by a former member of the D.C. National Guard, who sent them in the anonymous email to Gaither.

“It was just quite concerning to see that on a service member’s body, but even more concerning now that a person who chose to bear those symbols is being nominated to lead the most powerful, nuclear military in the world,” Akers told the AP in a phone interview Friday.

Hegseth is a highly decorated service member and a combat hero and I completely understand why he resigned in disgust after being accused of being an extremist. And now the attacks are happening again.

This is what Hegseth said about in a recent interview:

 
Robby Starbuck responded to this, saying this is a clear case of anti-Christian bigotry:

 
Educated Hillbilly shows an image of the tattoo on his chest…

So this tattoo plus the Latin phrase meaning “God wills it” makes him a White supremacist? Good grief.