Pete Hegseth’s ‘deceitful’ hack to reinstate Fort Bragg’s name leaves MAGA fuming

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday fulfilled a campaign promise from President Donald Trump to restore Fort Liberty's name to Fort Bragg—but there's a catch not everyone realized.

Hegseth posted a video of himself signing the memorandum while flying to Stuttgart, stating: "I direct the Army to change the name of Fort Liberty, North Carolina to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. That's right, Bragg is back!"

Several right-wingers were quick to celebrate the name change, with individuals praising "you’re the man Hegseth," "THANK YOU," and "Outstanding."

"Yes!! Name never should have been changed in the first place!!!" applauded someone else on Truth Social.

"By renaming Bragg, they were trying to erase history. That’s what tyrants do," blasted another commenter.

"Fort Bragg is back! Hell yeah!" praised someone else. "This is a victory for tradition, history, and the real warriors who made that name legendary. It's about time we stopped erasing our heritage for the sake of political correctness. Cheers to preserving our military's storied past and to Secretary Hegseth for having the backbone to make this happen!"

But Hegseth's video neglected to mention one key difference between the renamed Fort Bragg and the previous Fort Bragg: It is now named after a different Bragg.

The original name came from Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general, and was officially changed in 2023 after Congress established a commission to rename Department of Defense properties that honored Confederate generals.

The new name circumvents the congressional decision because Hegseth's order honors Roland Bragg, a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart.

"What deceitful, insulting cowardice this is," condemned conservative writer John Davidson. "They didn’t change it back, they changed it to a WW2 hero who happened to also be named Bragg so they wouldn’t have to defend the Confederate name. This breaks trust and sends a signal: they won’t really fight for our common heritage."

"Really undermines the entire point of opposing the name change," echoed someone else.

But several commenters—aware of the different Bragg—took no issue with Hegseth's tricky workaround.

"I'm from NC; I just wanted the name to go back to Ft. Bragg," wrote one person. "If this what it took to get the Bragg name back, then so be it. I wouldn't have cared if they named it after Fannie Bragg."

"This is always what should've been done," commended someone else. "Fort Bragg was instantly recognizable & linked generations of soldiers. But retaining a name honoring a Confederate was unacceptable. In this case, we could retain the recognizable name & honor someone who actually deserves it. Perfect."

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