Pete Hegseth: “I was denied the opportunity to serve because I was…”

“Are you saying that 50% of the DoD, if they hold liberal views or leftist views or our Democrats, are not welcome in the military? Are you saying that? Senator, I volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan under Democrat President Barack Obama. I was denied the opportunity to serve because I was identified as an extremist by my own unit for a Christian tattoo.” (13:34–13:45)

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.