Sick! SecDef Pete Hegseth Attacked by Lloyd Austin’s Ex-Chief of Staff in Nasty, False Accusation Over Handling of Army Helicopter Collision

by | Feb 1, 2025 | Aggregate | 0 comments

Sick! SecDef Pete Hegseth Attacked by Lloyd Austin’s Ex-Chief of Staff in Nasty, False Accusation Over Handling of Army Helicopter Collision
February 1, 2025

Kelly Magsamen, the former chief of staff to Joe Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, nastily attacked President Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth with a false accusation over his handling of the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter mid-air collision with a passenger jet on final approach to Reagan National Airport over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., Wednesday night. All three crew members on the Black Hawk and all sixty-four passengers and crew on the PSA/American Airlines flight were killed in the collision.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at a White House press briefing with President Donald Trump about the deadly mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger plane near Reagan National Airport on January 29, screen image via White House video, January 30, 2025.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III meets with Ambassador Julianne Smith (second from left), the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2021. Also in the photo are Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, left, and Austin’s Chief of Staff Kelly Magsamen. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

Magsamen, who helped Austin cover-up his absence from the Pentagon during a health crisis in January 2024, attacked Hegseth for his comments about DEI, falsely accusing him of blaming the female co-pilot, Capt. Rebecca Lobach, for the crash.

Fox News Pentagon reporter Jennifer Griffin reported Magsamen’s comments in an exclusive posted to X (excerpt):

Exclusive to Fox News:

Kelly Magsamen, former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, condemns Defense Secretary Hegseth’s handling of the Blackhawk crash aftermath and his suggestion that DEI was to blame after Capt Rebecca Lobach was identified as co-pilot.

“Secretary Hegseth has a lot to learn. When you speak as the Secretary of Defense, the entire force and their families are listening. They are looking to him for leadership and support, not suspicion. For him to imply that this pilot was not qualified because of her gender is absurd.

…This is the first crisis he has had to manage and so far it’s not a good sign.”

Hegseth has not blamed DEI for the crash. In a video statement posted Thursday morning, Hegseth described the crew members as “fairly experienced”.

Later on Thursday, Hegseth appeared at the White House with President Trump in the briefing room to speak with reporters about the crash. Hegseth spoke about DEI in broad terms in response to comments by Trump and Secretary of the Treasury Sean Duffy, but did not blame the crash on DEI.

In comments to Fox and Friends Friday morning, Hegseth again spoke out in support of Trump’s policy to eliminate DEI and replace it with merit-based personnel standards but did not blame the crash on DEI.

Complete interview:

Libs of TikTok slammed Magnasen for her baseless attack on Hegseth, “Lloyd Austin’s Chief of staff Kelly Magsamen is attacking Pete Hegseth for his handling of the helicopter crash. Kelly covered up for Austin when he was secretly hospitalized. She also helped him oversee the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal which left 13 U.S. military members dead. She should not be taken seriously.”

The post Sick! SecDef Pete Hegseth Attacked by Lloyd Austin’s Ex-Chief of Staff in Nasty, False Accusation Over Handling of Army Helicopter Collision appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Go to Source
Author: Kristinn Taylor

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *