Extra: Sec. Hegseth's War On Military 'Wokeness'

The Fox News Rundown

FOX News Podcasts

News, Daily News, Politics

3.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

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Summary

This past week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addressed top U.S. commanders at the Marine Base in Quantico, Virginia, calling for a renewed focus on discipline and elevated standards in basic training. He complained that the military has spent the past few years putting too much focus on being “politically correct” or “woke”. He announced that the mindset was coming to an end. Earlier this week, Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis joined FOX News Rundown host Dave Anthony to share his take on the speech and weigh in on Sec. Hegseth’s plan to restore higher military standards. Maginnis agreed with the need to focus less on ‘political correctness’ and put more emphasis on readiness. The military analyst also discusses the multiple global threats our military is facing and how our country must adapt to the coming national security threats that artificial intelligence advancements will bring. We often have to cut interviews short during the week, but we thought you might like to hear the full interview. Today on Fox News Rundown Extra, we will share our entire interview with Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Fox News Rundown Extra.
0:07.6	I'm Dave Anthony. Today, Warrior Ethos. It's one of Secretary of War Pete Hegson's favorite terms.
0:16.9	And the other day, he would into great detail about it as he addressed hundreds of military commanders at a gathering that generals and admirals were flown in from around the world to attend at the Marine Base in Quantico, Virginia.
0:30.7	Hegzith told them they will no longer be the woke department at the Pentagon, like in the Biden era.
0:36.2	As the secretary went into detail
0:38.4	on rigorous new standards for military training, putting a greater emphasis on war fighting, pushing
0:44.6	peace through strength. We got reaction to that from a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Robert
0:51.7	McGuinness, not only reacting to the Secretary, but also to what
0:56.5	President Trump told those military leaders in his speech there, vowing to also have the commander's
1:02.2	backs always. So our conversation went too long, forcing us to trim some for time reasons
1:08.8	from the rundown we posted the other day.
1:16.4	Today, you get to hear everything the colonel told us, which is why we do these extras twice every weekend,
1:18.9	and we hope you like them, and keep coming back for more.
1:22.5	You know, there is something new from the rundown here every day.
1:26.9	And now Robert McGuinness on the Fox News Rundown Extra.
1:38.0	Joining us on the Fox News Rundown is retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert McGinnis as we look back at what Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told a rare meeting of hundreds of generals and admirals,
1:48.7	top military commanders flown in from around the world to the Marine Base at Quantico, Virginia.
1:55.0	The Secretary of War first addressed them.
1:57.6	Then President Trump told them that he has their backs as the meeting focused a lot
2:03.5	on the return to high standards for the U.S. military and a warrior ethos that the secretary has
2:13.8	been pushing since he got the job at the Pentagon. First of all, Colonel, thanks very
2:18.6	much for your time today. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. What did you think first of
	...

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