Fox News host Pete Hegseth has significantly outperformed MSNBC anchor Jen Psaki in book sales, despite Psaki's month-long head start.
Hegseth’s book, "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free," released on June 4, has sold approximately 60,000 copies. Psaki's "Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and More," released on May 6, has sold around 22,000 copies, according to data from Bookscan reported by the Daily Mail.
Hegseth’s book not only debuted at the top spot on The New York Times bestseller list but also surpassed the sales of several other prominent hosts from rival networks. MSNBC’s Joy Reid, with her book "Medgar and Myrlie" released in early February, has sold fewer than 29,000 copies. Meanwhile, CNN anchor Jake Tapper's "All The Demons Are Here" has sold just over 15,000 copies in the 11 months since its release.
As part of his media tour to promote his book, Hegseth appeared on The Daily Wire’s Sunday Special with host Ben Shapiro. During the interview, they discussed Hegseth’s Army service in Iraq and Afghanistan and how he perceives the military has embraced "woke ideology."
Hegseth described the U.S. military as an institution traditionally focused on meritocracy, lethality, and readiness. However, he argued that under former President Barack Obama, the military experienced a "fundamental transformation," shifting its focus to gender issues, transgender issues, women in combat, and climate change. He asserted that under President Joe Biden, the focus has further shifted to concerns about extremism.
"Especially under Obama, the focus became, ‘No, no, no, no, what about these gender issues? What about these trans issues? What about these women in combat issues? What about climate change?’ And certainly under Biden, it’s been, ‘What about extremism?’" Hegseth said.
Hegseth contends that while older soldiers and veterans have resisted this ideological shift, the military is training the younger generation of service members to incorporate these new perspectives.
He expressed concern that the military's top-down structure means that young lieutenants, privates, ROTC cadets, and West Point cadets are being introduced to "woke ideology" as part of their training.
"You mentioned the warriors are just as good as they’ve always been. I agree, kind of. The challenge is because it’s a top-down organization, you start pushing things like DEI, now your young lieutenants and your young privates going through basic or going through ROTC or going through West Point are getting that woke ideology as part of their training," Hegseth explained.