One of Hegseth’s early forays into Minnesota’s political spotlight was in 2008, when he attempted to bring Vets for Freedom to Forest Lake High School.

Hegseth has pushed for making the military more lethal and said that allowing women to serve in combat roles hurts that effort.

In picking Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, President-elect Donald Trump has selected a military veteran and popular conservative media personality with a large following of his own.