Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to review the names of several ships honoring gay rights icon Harvey Milk, Harriet Tubman, and liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In the name of “reestablishing the warrior culture” of the U.S. armed forces, the Trump administration is working to reorient the military around lethality and warfighting, not honouring political figures and activists beloved by leftists.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell issued a statement explaining, "Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all [Department of Defense] installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities, our nation’s history, and the warrior ethos."
Names of military installations, ships, and equipment are typically reserved to honour the nation's history and figures who have demonstrated incredible valor in service of the nation.
While figures like Milk, Tubman, and Ginsburg are no doubt part of American history, their names are highlighted for explicitly political reasons outside of honoring America's warfighting prowess.
Hegseth's team is expected to review certain names, but so far, there are no confirmed actions aside from plans to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a replenishment oiler, by the end of June, coinciding with the end of gay pride month.
That move appears to be deliberate, as Hegseth is actively taking shots at the gay pride movement that enjoyed total acceptance under the Biden administration.
In fact, the USNS Harvey Milk was given that name by the Biden administration in 2021, demonstrating the past administration's desire to highlight figures important to leftist movements.
The move to rename ships named after leftist heroes has predictably ignited outrage among Democrats. These same Democrats would likely protest naming a ship after the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, but such inconcistencies are to be expected.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blasted the move saying it was “spiteful” in a statement on Tuesday, arguing that it “does not strengthen our national security or the ‘warrior’ ethos."
What Pelosi, a career politician, knows about "warrior" ethos is unknown, but her claim that the move is "spiteful" ignores the fact that the Trump administration has a duty to keep the military non-partisan, and honouring leftist icons runs counter to that mission.
Leftist partisanship is one of the greatest threats to the cohesion of the U.S. armed forces. Under the Biden administration, divisive DEI principles were pushed, and conservative individuals, including Hegseth himself, were punished.
Hegseth was labeled an "insider threat" and understands that the MAGA agenda in the armed forces requires the purging of divisive leftist ideas. That starts with tearing down their icons, just as Democrats have done for the past decade.
While some Americans may see reason in honouring certain figures like Harvey Milk, the Trump administration is determined to send a message that the left's dominance in the culture war is at an end.
