Pete Hegseth Seems Really Confused About Where Southeast Asia Is (Copy)
HuffPost | 14 January 2025
Sen. Tammy Duckworth asked Trump's defense secretary pick to name at least one country in ASEAN. He couldn't.
Pete Hegseth during his confirmation hearing Tuesday.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, revealed an embarrassing ignorance about a major geopolitical organization during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, was taking questions from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) when she challenged him to share his knowledge about even just one member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
“Can you name the importance of at least one of the nations in ASEAN and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations?” she asked.
“I couldn’t tell you the exact amount of nations in that, but I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan and ... with Australia,” Hegseth began responding.
Duckworth cut him off to make a major correction.
“None of those three countries that you’ve mentioned are in ASEAN,” she said. “I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations.”
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