Top Republican Calls Hegseth ‘Stupid’?
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) didn’t mince words when asked about the Pentagon’s recent moves to rename U.S. military bases. In a scathing critique, Bacon said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks “stupid as hell” for what he described as a political charade to rename bases under the guise of honoring different soldiers.
“They’re trying to be too clever with it,” Bacon told USA Today. “It looks stupid as hell.”
Base names brought back—but with a twist
The Department of Defense recently announced the restoration of two historic base names that had been stripped under the Biden administration.
But instead of returning to the original Confederate honorees, the Pentagon under Hegseth renamed them after different military heroes who just happen to share the same last names.
- Fort Liberty, renamed under Biden in 2023, is now Fort Bragg once again—but said to honor WWII paratrooper Roland Bragg, not Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.
- Fort Moore, which replaced Fort Benning, is now attributed to World War I veteran Cpl. Fred Benning, instead of Confederate Gen. Henry Benning.
For Rep. Bacon and many veterans, this maneuver is disingenuous and confusing.
Trump’s leadership: Tradition with integrity
President Donald J. Trump has made it clear: the names of America’s military bases matter—and under his leadership, they’re being restored.
At a campaign rally in North Carolina marking the Army’s 250th anniversary, President Trump confirmed that the restoration of base names is part of his broader push to defend American heritage and honor battlefield history.
“We’re restoring the names of the bases where our soldiers trained and won battles,” Trump told the crowd. “These forts are part of our legacy. I don’t believe in erasing that.”
Bacon: “This isn’t how you unify the country”
Bacon, who recently announced he will not seek re-election, expressed frustration that the Defense Department didn’t simply pick names that could unify Americans from all backgrounds—especially veterans who served under those names for decades.
“Hegseth had a real opportunity to pick names everyone could rally behind,” Bacon told The Hill. “Instead, we’re getting cute word games that just confuse people and divide them further.”
Bipartisan fatigue over renaming saga
Even though both Republicans and Democrats supported removing Confederate names back in 2021, many in Congress now believe the issue has been taken too far.
Bacon was one of only two Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee who voted to block any more taxpayer money from being used for these symbolic renaming efforts.
“This should’ve been settled by now,” Bacon said. “Congress shouldn’t be steamrolled into endless revisions to please activists.”
Pentagon stays quiet as criticism grows
The Pentagon has not issued a direct response to Bacon’s remarks, though Secretary Hegseth has been vocal on social media, celebrating the partial restoration of Fort Bragg.
“That’s right—Bragg is back,” Hegseth said in a video earlier this year after signing the official renaming memo.
But critics, including many veterans, say that simply reusing the names while erasing their original meaning does nothing to preserve military tradition.
BOTTOM LINE: Under Trump, America’s military history is being defended—but not everyone agrees on the method
President Trump is taking a stand to bring back the legacy of the U.S. armed forces—restoring names that generations of American soldiers trained under. But the debate over how those names return is sparking heated reactions, even within his own party.
For conservatives who value patriotism, tradition, and respect for the past, this issue isn’t about politics—it’s about preserving what makes America’s military great.
