Chuck Hagel apologizes for 1998 gay slur
This post was updated at 4:40 p.m. ET
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., reportedly one of President Obama's top candidates for defense secretary, apologized Friday for disparaging remarks he made about a gay ambassadorial nominee in 1998, seeking to quell a controversy that could derail a potential bid for the Pentagon.
Hagel, a Republican, assailed then-President Clinton's nominee for ambassador to Luxembourg, James Hormel, as "openly, aggressively gay," questioning whether Hormel could "do an effective job."
Ambassadors "are representing America," Hagel told the Omaha World-Herald in 1998. "They are representing our lifestyle, our values, our standards. And I think it is an inhibiting factor to be gay."
The comments, which resurfaced this week, drew fierce condemnation from LGBT and progressive groups, who questioned whether Hagel would be able to effectively oversee the repeal of don't-ask-don't-tell.
Hagel, recognizing the threat the rising furor could pose to his potential nomination, released a statement on Friday apologizing for the remarks.
"My comments 14 years ago in 1998 were insensitive," said Hagel. "They do not reflect my views or the totality of my public record, and I apologize to Ambassador Hormel and any LGBT Americans who may question my commitment to their civil rights. I am fully supportive of 'open service' and committed to LGBT military families."
Hormel, in a Facebook post, commended Hagel for the "significant" apology, saying, "I can't remember a time when a potential presidential nominee apologized for anything."
While conceding that "the timing appears self serving," Hormel wrote, "The words themselves are unequivocal."
"Since 1998, fourteen years have passed, and public attitudes have shifted - perhaps Senator Hagel has progressed with the times too," said the former ambassador, adding that if Hagel demonstrates "a commitment to treat LGBT service members and their families like everybody else, I would support his nomination."
It's not the first bump in the road for Hagel's potential nomination, which has also drawn criticism from pro-Israel groups who have taken issue with some of the former Senator's prior comments on the U.S.-Israel relationship.
White House press secretary Jay Carney declined to address criticism of Hagel on Thursday but called the former senator "a remarkable servant to this country."
On Friday, Mr. Obama nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to be his next secretary of state, but the White House remained mum on plans for the Pentagon when current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who's indicated his interest in stepping down, leaves his post next year. Other potential nominees include Ashton Carter, the current deputy secretary of defense, and Michele Flournoy, who was undersecretary of defense for policy for Mr. Obama's first two years and, if nominated and confirmed, would be the nation's first female defense secretary.
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Many people have changed their mind on gays in the last several years. And many Republicans never wanted them allowed in the military. Looks to me as Hagel needs to changes parties if his own party hates him so much.
To me he is the stereotypical Archie Bunker type bigot. His policies have been anti gay (even now after his late and self serving apology he doesn't support equal benefits for gay military families. He is anti-African American (with a 17/100 rating from NAACP and admires Strom Thurmond as a great role model. anti Woman (vs choice and contraception)
and
Hagel has drawn additional heat from insiders who claim he lacks the credentials needed to manage a department as large and essential as the Pentagon.
"Yes, Hagel has crazy positions on several key issues. Yes, Hagel has said things that are borderline anti-Semitism. Yes, Hagel wants to gut the Pentagon's budget. But above all, he's not a nice person and he's bad to his staff," said a senior Republican Senate aide who has close ties to former Hagel staffers.
"Hagel was known for turning over staff every few weeks—within a year's time he could have an entirely new office because nobody wanted to work for him," said the source. "You have to wonder how a man who couldn't run a Senate office is going to be able to run an entire bureaucracy."
Others familiar with Hagel's 12 year tenure in the Senate said he routinely intimidated staff and experienced frequent turnover.
"Chuck Hagel may have been collegial to his Senate colleagues but he was the Cornhusker wears Prada to his staff, some of whom describe their former boss as perhaps the most paranoid and abusive in the Senate, one who would rifle through staffers desks and berate them for imagined disloyalty," said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq. "He might get away with that when it comes to staffers in their 20s, but that sort of personality is going to go over like a ton of bricks at the Pentagon."
Multiple sources corroborated this view of Hagel.
"As a manager, he was angry, accusatory, petulant," said one source familiar with his work on Capitol Hill. "He couldn't keep his staff."
"I remember him accusing one of his staffers of being 'f—ing stupid' to his face," recalled the source who added that Hagel typically surrounded himself with those "who basically hate Republicans."
Sources expressed concern about such behavior should Hagel be nominated for the defense post. With competing military and civilian interests vying for supremacy, the department requires a skilled manager, sources said.
"The Pentagon requires strong civilian control," a senior aide to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the Free Beacon. "It's already swung back in favor of the military over the past five years. A new secretary of defense should push it back in its rightful place, but it's doubtful Hagel would be that guy."
"It's not clear that [Hagel] has the standing, the managerial prowess, or the willingness to gore some oxen," said the source.
One senior Bush administration official warned that Hagel is ill informed about many critical foreign policy matters.
"He's not someone who's shown a lot of expertise on these issues," said the source, referencing a recent Washington Post editorial excoriating Hagel's record. "That [op-ed] was extraordinary."
"Only in Washington," the official added, "can someone like [Hagel] be seen as a heavy weight. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer."
Hagel is likely viewed positively by the administration mainly because he is a Republican who often criticizes his own party, the source said.
"He'll dance to a tune played by the White House," said the former official. "That I think is the real problem."
As lawmakers consider a deal to avoid sweeping budgets cuts and tax hikes, Hagel's support for slashing spending at the Pentagon has irked many defense hawks.
"This is a time when a secretary of defense needs to be raising hell about the sequestration cuts," said the Rumsfeld aide. "It's not clear that Hagel has any interest in picking that fight."
Hagel's reluctance to chastise Iran also remains a central concern.
As chief of the Pentagon it is expected he would avoid planning for a military intervention should Tehran refuse to end its clandestine nuclear enrichment program.
"The military brass is already reluctant to offer up any military options on Iran even though it's their job to have something on the books and to leave the options of the commander in chief open," said the Rumsfeld aide. "Hagel will only reinforce these worrisome tendencies."
"Chances are he'll view any legitimate effort to talk about military options with Iran as some plot by the 'Israel Lobby' to box him in," the source said.
But he wont make it because Israel is telling us not to.
"I don't feel that way anymore" ?
Much ado over nothing.
It doesnt hurt to get this over with now. So it is old news when he is running or being appointed.
I was in a store for young teens buying christmas gifts. Two 20 something females were deliberately putting on quite a show, all over each other. When I turned around, they stood there smirking.
It was an in your face kind of thing, totally crass and inappropriate. I guess they thought this 'ol woman would turn around and hide. I didn't. I wouldn't behave that way with my husband in public. Digusting!
Is this what you want your kids & G-kids to be exposed to people? Sorry, I ain't buying. They're free to speak but so am I and I won't be intimidated.