The National Guardsman who in 2021 pegged Pete Hegseth as a potential “insider threat” clarified in an interview with ABC News that his complaint targeted a “Deus Vult” tattoo on the former Fox News host’s arm — not a cross on his chest, as Hegseth has repeatedly claimed.
President-elect Donald Trump last week tapped Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense. He listed Hegseth’s experience as a veteran and his media experience as his reasons for the choice.
As Reuters and The Associated Press first reported, Sgt. DeRicko Gaither sent an image of the “Deus Vult” tattoo to Maj. Gen. William Walker shortly before President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The phrase, which translates from Latin to “God wills it,” has been co-opted by white nationalist groups, experts have said.
“This information is quite disturbing, sir,” Gaither wrote in the email to Walker, who has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment. “This falls along the lines of (an) Insider Threat.”
Hegseth claimed in his book “The War on Warriors” that his “orders were revoked” ahead of Biden’s inauguration because fellow service members had flagged a tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross on his chest as a white nationalist symbol.
As a result, Hegseth wrote, he resigned from the military.
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