Pete Hegseth Under Fire for 'Blocking Black and Female Navy Officers from Receiving Promotions' — 'He is a Disgrace and Needs to Resign'

Pete Hegseth is once again under fire, RadarOnline.com can reveal, after the Secretary of Defense blocked black and female Navy officers from receiving promotions.

The former Fox News personality has already been accused of causing "substantial damage" to the US Military due to his unexpected firings and controversial decisions.

According to reports, Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers who a board of senior Navy admirals had previously selected. Three people Hegseth booted from the promotion list are women, while two are black men. Four others are white men.

Following Hegseth's decision, several current and former defense officials under anonymity responded and agreed the shock move was "highly unusual."

While women make up 21 percent of the active-duty Navy, no female officers were included on the May promotion list. According to the NY Times, the list only included two nonwhite officers, despite 38 percent identifying as racial minorities.

Critics on X were quick to respond to the new report, with one person raging, "Pete Hegseth doesn't realize this detracts from the credibility of all Navy officers, as they are winning promotions based on their 'favorable’ skin color,' as opposed to merit. He is a disgrace and needs to resign."

Another user went off, "Why isn't this douche fired? He's terrible!" and another said, "Of course he did. The pastor he invited over to speak to the troops has made it clear that women should not vote, and they are here just to breed."

Hegseth's pastor, openly conservative Doug Wilson, previously made his thoughts on women clear, stating that if they dress immodestly, he sees them as "slu-s."

Following the new report, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell was quick to defend Hegseth, branding the story "race-baiting garbage."

He continued, "They continue to push this worn-out narrative because they view almost everything through the lens of race and gender over merit."

"As we've said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The Department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions."

Parnell added, "Under President Trump and@SecWar Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the War Department."

Meanwhile, Hegseth's behavior and unpopular decisions have sparked concern, especially following his firing spree, which included booting several high-profile figures from the military in the last couple of months.

Some of those figures include the head of the Navy, John Phelan, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, and the Chief Army Chaplain, General William Green Jr.

George is believed to have been terminated after he reportedly refused to obey Hegseth's instruction to eliminate officers – two Black men and two women – from a list of people up for a promotion.

During a previous hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, when Democrat Jack Reed asked Hegseth if President Trump ordered him to single out Black and female officers for dismissal, Hegseth responded, "Of course not."

The 45-year-old said at the time, "Members on this committee and the previous leadership of this department were focused on height, social engineering, race, and gender in ways that we think were unhealthy."

However, Paul Eaton, a retired army major-general who commanded US forces after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, declared the firings are a red flag that the military may not be headed in the best possible direction with Hegseth at the helm.

"I believe that the senior leadership of the US military has been substantially damaged," he suggested. "You develop a fracture in the cohesion of the people at that level. It is if you haven't been purged, you wonder if you are next, if you say the wrong thing to the man or woman on your left or right, that may invoke the wrath of the Secretary of Defense or the president."