Washington Post Reports Pentagon Secretly Hired Military Influencers
The Washington Post has reported that the U.S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon, secretly appointed a number of conservative veterans and high-profile social media figures to civilian government posts in a move the newspaper says was aimed at promoting war policies and defending the views of officials at the department.
According to the report, these individuals were brought into the government structure without their official duties being publicly explained. The Washington Post said the purpose of the appointments was to promote the views of Pete Hegseth and support his positions in what it described as a “culture war,” as well as to attack critics of Donald Trump’s administration.
The report also named several specific figures, including Rob Mans, a retired Air Force colonel with about 135,000 followers on X; Kurt Schlichter, with about 620,000 followers; and Thomas Anderson, known by the pseudonym Cynical Publius, who has more than 323,000 followers on the platform.
According to the Washington Post, while holding these posts, the individuals continued posting tweets and writing articles in support of Hegseth’s decisions and attacked the media and political opponents, without disclosing their government employment relationship or financial ties to the Pentagon.
The report also said some of these figures took part in field working groups, including visits to the U.S. Army’s War College. According to sources, the aim of these activities was to remove opposing viewpoints and assess the loyalty of officials to Trump.
The revelations come as the Pentagon faces criticism that taxpayer money is being used to advance partisan propaganda. The Pentagon is the U.S. Department of Defense and is responsible for managing the country’s armed forces.
