Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth probably hoped their speeches on Tuesday before every top U.S. general and admiral would really rally the troops to new heights.But at least one retired military leader wasn’t so gung-ho about the comments made by the president and the secretary of defense during the gathering, calling them “insulting” and “offensive.”During the meeting, Hegseth announced his plans for a revamped military that would “remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department.” After he spoke, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling appeared on MSNBC to rip Hegseth’s new plans and his attacks against the military’s DEI programs.Hertling told host Ana Cabrera he felt obliged to “stick up for the defense of the American military” and claimed “there are no finer human beings across our force.”After noting that “there is a reason why the other armies of the world say we are the best on the globe,” Hertling said America’s military members are “well trained, well-disciplined, and they swear an oath to the Constitution.”He added:“And I just really find it offensive that anyone is insulting them and claiming that it’s their promotions and their advancements through the services are a result of policies or wokeness or DEI, because that’s just not true.”Hertling also had harsh words for Trump’s remarks, and said he “just couldn’t believe some of the things” the president was saying.Trump spoke to the soldiers about how there are two “N words” ― one of which is “nuclear” ― and Hertling wasn’t really impressed.“This is somewhat similar to the speech he gave at the U.N. [last week]. It’s somewhat shocking, and it’s filled with mistruths, and he’s addressing a bunch of men and women who serve all over the world, who have firsthand experience in some of the alliances and what he’s talking about in terms of war fighting,” Hertling said. “So I would suspect it’s not being taken well.”You can see Hertling’s complete comments below:Close