Top Democrat slams Pete Hegseth's military record as Trump's Defense Secretary nominee comes under fire

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth slammed President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth's military record as 'pretty low rank' as he faces scrutiny for controversial comments he made about women serving in combat. 

Duckworth, who is a combat veteran who lost both her legs and mobility in one arm serving in Iraq, appeared on CBS News' Face the Nation where she was asked about the TV personality tapped to head the Pentagon. 

She said his comments about women in combat show he does not understand where the military is and called him unqualified for the role. 

'He was a pretty low ranking guy in the military, and he never had a command position. He was a platoon leader, I think, once or twice, but he never even commanded a company,' Duckworth said. 

'And so this is a man who is inordinately, unqualified for the position,' she went on.

Duckworth was responding to Hegseth claiming women make fighting more complicated. 

Trump made waves when he named Hegseth, a former Fox News television personality, author and veteran, as his nominee. 

The 44-year-old is now under the microscope not only for his comments about women in combat and experience but also for a sexual assault allegation. 

Hegseth served in the Minnesota National Guard and later Army National Guard where he served as an infantryman in Iraq and counterinsurgency instructor in Afghanistan. He was also part of a security platoon at Guantanamo Bay.

But the Trump nominee does not have senior military or national security experience.  

'I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated, Hegseth said in a podcast hosted by Shawn Ryan earlier this month.

But Duckworth said that the U.S. military could not go to war without the 220,000 women who serve and argued women serving in combat have met the same standards as men. 

'The women in our military does make us more effective, does make us more lethal,' she said. 

She called Hegseth's claims about women in the military 'flat out wrong.' 

'America's daughters are just as capable of defending liberty and freedom as her sons,' she said. 

Hegseth was on Capitol Hill last week where he met with Republican senators as he works to lock in support ahead of what is expected to be a bruising confirmation battle.   

Duckworth, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued Hegseth not only lacks senior military experience but has also never lead anything comparable in size to the U.S. military with its three million service members and $900 billion budget.

At the same time, Hegseth is also facing scrutiny over an allegation of sexual assault. 

The alleged incident took place at a California hotel in 2017. A woman told police Hegseth sexually assaulted her after refusing to let her leave the hotel, according to the police report. 

The former Fox News personality denies the allegations and said it was consensual, but he did pay the woman off.

Charges were never brought. Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni said Thursday her office declined to prosecutor because they did not have proof 'beyond a reasonable doubt.'

Duckworth said it was up to Republicans whether they hear from Hegseth's accuser but suggested it was unlikely with GOP colleagues willing to 'roll over' for Trump.

She said she will be raising questions and blasted the president-elect nominating someone accused of assault and claimed it was not the kind of person who should be leading the Defense Department. 

'Remember that we've just fought over a decade of fights and- and overhauled the military and its treatment of military sexual trauma,' Duckworth said. 

'It's frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that he's paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him,' she went on.