By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN

(CNN) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has voiced strong opposition to removing the names of Confederate generals from US military bases, repeatedly saying the names should be changed back.

Hegseth, a National Guard veteran and longtime Fox News host, has described the renaming efforts as “a sham,” “garbage,” and “crap” in various media appearances between 2021 and 2024 reviewed by CNN. Hegseth said the moves eroded military tradition and were part of what he characterized as a politically motivated progressive agenda infiltrating American institutions.

Between 2022 and 2023, the names of nine US military bases previously dedicated to Confederate leaders were changed, the result of the National Defense Authorization Act passed at the end of the first Trump administration. Trump initially vetoed the bill, partly in protest over the renaming provision, but Congress overwhelmingly overrode the veto to pass the bill in January 2021 .

As secretary of defense, Hegseth could advocate for reverting base names to their former Confederate names, but the changes would require congressional approval.

Hegseth, whose Senate confirmation hearings begin January 14, has criticized other cultural shifts in the military, including allowing women to serve in combat roles and gay service members to serve openly .

Hegseth did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

During his 2024 book tour promoting “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth frequently criticized the decision to rename military bases, calling it an erasure of legacy and tradition.

“We should change it back by the way,” he said emphatically while promoting his book when discussing North Carolina’s Fort Liberty – previously Fort Bragg – on a podcast. “We should change it back. We should change it back. We should change it back, because legacy matters. My uncle served at Bragg. I served at Bragg. It breaks a generational link.”

Fort Bragg, one of the largest Army bases in the US, was named for Braxton Bragg, a general in the Confederacy and slave owner who lost nearly every battle he was involved in during the Civil War. A naming commission set-up by Congress to study renaming bases noted Bragg is “considered one of the worst generals of the Civil War,” and was “widely disliked in the pre-Civil War U.S. Army and within the Confederate Army by peers and subordinates alike.”

The base, originally Camp Bragg, opened during World War I and was named by locals for Bragg, the only Civil War general from North Carolina.

The base was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023.

Trump has been adamant in his opposition to renaming bases honoring Confederate leaders.

“I have been clear in my opposition to politically motivated attempts like this to wash away history and to dishonor the immense progress our country has fought for in realizing our founding principles,” Trump said at the time of the legislation.

Hegseth’s remarks are in keeping with a broader opposition expressed by incoming Trump officials to a range of cultural policies they view as overly progressive.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two billionaires tasked with slashing government waste, are expected to recommend an agency-wide purge of spending on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, as CNN has previously reported.

In an interview with Megyn Kelly in early December, Hegseth gave a laundry list of DEI-related initiatives that he says Trump has told him to remove at the Pentagon.

“Clean house of the woke crap,” Hegseth told Kelly. “All that stuff. Climate stuff, the (critical race theory), the DEI and genderism. Get rid of it.”

As CNN previously reported in December, Hegseth was once critical of allowing openly gay troops in the military – calling it part of a “Marxist agenda.” He has also expressed opposition to women serving in combat roles, describing it as detrimental to military readiness.

Since CNN’s report Hegseth has softened both positions.

In one interview in 2021 with Israeli podcaster Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hegseth argued that efforts to rename American military bases represented a trend of viewing the United States solely through the lens of its past sins.

“It’s that view that America is defined by its sins of the past,” he said. “That the only lens through which you should view America is it was stolen from Indians – from Native Americans and built on the backs of slaves. Therefore, anyone who was a slave owner, anyone who was a part of, you know, didn’t go far enough in their time should be canceled.”

Hegseth took particular aim at retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accusing him of supporting the renaming efforts for political reasons.

Hegseth questioned why Milley, who previously commanded Fort Hood, did not raise objections to Confederate base names earlier in his career.

Hegseth’s criticisms align with Trump’s known hostility toward Milley, whom Trump has called “a f**king idiot,” and suggested could be executed for treason.

“Why wasn’t he screaming about the racist base?” Hegseth added on the June 2024 podcast. “Oh my goodness. How in the world am I gonna send troopers through basic training at a racist base? It must be changed. It’s a sham. He showed up and he did it as a sham to kowtow to all the chattering class in Washington, DC, and he should be called out for it.”

In another June 2024 interview, Hegseth referred to renaming the bases as “crap” and “garbage.”

“I emailed my company commander from my infantry training, which was at Fort Benning, which is no longer Fort Benning,” he said in 2024. “It’s Fort Moore. And Hal Moore’s a great guy. But like, there’s also a generational link that breaks when you rename Benning and Bragg. Like, where’d you serve? Bragg, where’d you serve Benning? Where’d you serve now Liberty, like, it’s just, it’s garbage. It’s all, it’s just, let’s just crap all over it.”

Hegseth was discussing Fort Benning - now Fort Moore - named for Confederate Gen. Henry L. Benning.

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