By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2024-12-12 21:33:18 | Updated at 2024-12-23 12:33:59
1 week ago
Mayra Guillén, the younger sister of Army soldier Vanessa Guillén — whose death brought attention to and galvanized the military’s handling of sexual assault cases — came out on Wednesday in support of President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.
“I have full faith in President Trump’s nomination of @PeteHegseth as Secretary of Defense,” Guillén posted.
Guillén’s endorsement of Hegseth could go a long way to win over support for him from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who has worked on the issue of military sexual assault, as well as from other senators who may be on the fence on Hegseth’s confirmation.
Guillén posted on X:
My sister Vanessa Guillén was proud to serve our country. Undoubtedly Vanessa’s death was THE catalyst for the much needed changes for our military. President @realDonaldTrump supported the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act, which was the greatest change in history of our military code. I have full faith in President Trump’s nomination of @PeteHegseth as Secretary of Defense.
Guillén criticized Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, saying he continued to deny benefits to members of the military, and for the current recruitment and retention crisis due to politicization and “lack of trust.”
She wrote:
Over the last 4 years, Secretary Austin continued to deny benefits to our military that they rightly earned and deserved. In fact, under Secretary Austin’s watch, we had the lowest enlistment and active duty service members in the history of our country, due mainly to the politics, the lack of trust and the low morale.
We need a disruptor like Pete Hegseth to fix the bureaucratic .institution that the Pentagon has become. I believe Pete Hegseth will bring back the morale, and provide our service members the rights they deserve, so we can strengthen and maintain the greatest military in the world!
Guillén’s support comes amid a concerted campaign to sink Hegseth’s nomination.
Guillén found herself in the middle of an anti-Trump campaign when the Atlantic published anonymous claims that Trump had disparaged her sister and her family.
She spoke out directly to shoot down the unverified claims, blasting the publication for “exploiting her sister’s death for politics” and revealing that she voted for Trump earlier that day.
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