“The Goal of ‘Utter Annihilation’: Atlantic Columnist Warns of Pete Hegseth’s Extremism in Cabinet Role

President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth is raising alarms, but not for the reasons dominating headlines. While accusations of sexual misconduct and a lack of experience have drawn scrutiny, Atlantic columnist Jonathan Chait argues the most dangerous aspect of Hegseth’s nomination as Defense Secretary lies elsewhere—in his writings.

Chait, who spent the past week analyzing Hegseth’s books, describes them as a deeply troubling insight into the nominee’s extremist worldview. “The man who emerges from the page appears to have sunk deeply into conspiracy theories that are bizarre even by contemporary Republican standards but that have attracted strangely little attention,” Chait wrote Thursday.

“He considers himself to be at war with basically everybody to Trump’s left, and it is by no means clear that he means war metaphorically.” Hegseth’s three books—American Crusade (2020), Battle for the American Mind (2022), and The War on Warriors (2024)—reveal alarming beliefs, according to Chait. He highlights Hegseth’s assertions that public education is a communist plot, vaccines are poison, and socialists were responsible for the Holocaust.

“Hegseth’s ‘odd’ and ‘extremist’ views make him no less nutty than any of Trump’s more controversial nominees,” Chait noted. “He is almost certainly far more dangerous than any of them.” Particularly concerning are Hegseth’s calls for action against liberals. Chait points to the American Crusade, where Hegseth writes of a mission for the “categorical defeat of the Left,” with a goal of “utter annihilation, without which ‘America cannot, and will not, survive.'”

Hegseth frames this as a “Crusade,” not entirely metaphorical. “Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet.” (Emphasis—gulp—his). Chait paints a dark picture of how Hegseth might respond in a leadership position. In The War on Warriors, Hegseth reportedly urges readers to treat the American left like wartime enemies.

“The main question I was looking to answer when I started reading Hegseth’s collected works was whether he would follow a Trump command to shoot peaceful protesters,” Chait concluded. “After having read them, I don’t think he would even wait for the order.” As Trump’s administration prepares to take shape, Hegseth’s writings cast a shadow over his nomination, raising profound questions about his suitability for such a critical role in government.