Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is focused on a new enemy as the war with Iran rages on: the flu shot.
In a video posted Tuesday, Hegseth said the military would be getting rid of its longstanding flu vaccine mandate.
“Our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country, even when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness,” Hegseth asserted.
“That era of betrayal is over. Under President Trump, the War Department continues to take decisive action to once again restore freedom and strength to our joint force. We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities,” he continued.
Hegseth also attacked former President Joe Biden’s administration for requiring that members of the military receive the COVID-19 vaccine amid the deadly pandemic.
He claimed Biden had “waged an unrelenting war on our warriors on many fronts, including when it came to denying them simple medical autonomy and the freedom to express their religious convictions.”
The COVID-19 vaccine mandate has been an issue that Hegseth has railed against for many months, having eliminated that vaccine mandate in September. Last year, Trump signed an executive order to reinstate service members who had been discharged for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Despite Hegseth’s assertion that the flu vaccine mandate is “absurd,” the military has a longstanding history of requiring vaccines dating back to nearly the country’s inception. In 1777, General George Washington required troops to vaccinate themselves against smallpox.
It was also the U.S. Army that invested in the development of the first flu vaccine at the start of World War II out of concern because the 1918 influenza pandemic killed about 45,000 to 50,000 U.S. soldiers during World War I.
The flu vaccine was then mandated for all military personnel in 1945, until Hegseth’s new announcement.
Vaccine mandates for troops were largely seen as uncontroversial until the Biden administration, when conservatives railed against them, claiming they were an infringement on religious freedom.
An article posted on the Army’s website still boasts the flu shot mandate as saving lives, and “protecting those in the population that are most vulnerable such as newborn infants, people with vaccine allergies, and the immune compromised.”
“Infectious diseases remain relevant and it is important to take an active role in protecting your health and the health of your families,” the article reads.
For Hegseth, the former Fox News weekend host who has pledged to instill what he calls a “warrior ethos” in the military, it’s his latest move to eradicate “woke” policies.
Throughout his time leading the military, he has eliminated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices and demoted senior military leaders, including women and Black officers.
He’s also railed against what he calls “fat troops” and has pledged to install higher physical fitness and grooming standards.
