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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the National Guard while responding to protesters gathered outside the event, calling the demonstrations "background noise." Hegseth said the protesters were "ingrates" who were "blinded by ideology" and unable to recognize the importance of law and order and common sense.

His remarks have sparked fresh political debate over protests, public order, and the role of the National Guard amid growing tensions.

Watch the full statement and hear exactly what Hegseth said.

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Transcript
00:00Stephen, thank you very much. To everything you said, yes and amen.
00:05And General, thank you for your leadership. Attorney General, thank you for being here,
00:08for backing us up along the way. To the entire team, to the soldiers here,
00:14thank you for everything you're doing. Thank you for waiting out here in the sun.
00:18I'm to blame. Sorry I had a meeting go long. I never want to make a formation stand out any
00:23longer
00:23than it has to, because I've stood in your formation before, waiting for somebody to show up
00:28so I can get on and do my job. And that's the beautiful part about what you do.
00:33You do your job no matter what. In fact, this background noise this morning is perfect.
00:40It's the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology
00:49they can't see law and order and common sense in front of them.
00:54That there's nothing ideological about this group.
00:56There's nothing political about this exercise.
01:01Law and order is something all Americans deserve.
01:05Black, white, rich, poor, man or woman from D.C. or far-flung places in this country.
01:10And the beautiful thing is, when I look out at this group, that's all of you.
01:15From all across this great country, you're not from Washington, most of you, but this is your capital.
01:22And you believe in this 250th year that it should be safe and it should be secure for every single
01:29citizen that lives here
01:30and every single citizen that comes to visit in this 250th year.
01:35And you do it whether it's cold, whether it's raining, whether it's, well, it doesn't snow here very often,
01:40whether it's snowing or whether it's 100 degrees on the 4th of July.
01:44See, these ingrates will fade away.
01:47They'll go back to wherever they came from.
01:49You will do your job.
01:51And you will do it professionally, with courage, boldly, assisting with arrests, helping people who need help.
02:01The crime rate here has dropped in staggering amounts.
02:04And the media won't want to admit it because, of course, they'd have to give credit to President Trump.
02:09And then they'd have to give credit to the Department of War or to Stephen Miller.
02:14But courageous men like President Trump and Stephen, who said enough is enough,
02:19are the reason why this city is a safe and beautiful place 250 years into our great republic.
02:26And it's incredible Americans like you who ignore the noise and you do your job.
02:31And you do it with courage and you do it with professionalism.
02:34And you do it because you love your country, which is why you raise your right hand in the first
02:39place.
02:40It's why you put this uniform on to begin with.
02:43It's because you, this town, loves to talk about elites.
02:47And there's a lot of famous people in this town.
02:50But when I talk about elites, I'm talking about all of you.
02:54The real 1%.
02:55The real 1% of America who raised your right hand to serve something bigger than yourself
02:59when you could have done anything else.
03:01And then you do the difficult, tough job that no one else is willing to do.
03:05And you stand beside law enforcement here and you ensure that our capital is safe and secure.
03:11It's a righteous and beautiful mission.
03:14And what an honor it is to stand with you in the 250th year of our great republic.
03:19Where it has always required men and women like you for 250 years to stand up and do the right
03:28thing when it's difficult.
03:29And that's precisely what you have done in this D.C. safe and beautiful mission.
03:35I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Sarah Beckstrom and Andy Wolfe.
03:40We lost Sarah and Andy was almost killed and has had a near miraculous recovery.
03:47I just want to give a moment of silence as we remember Sarah and Andrew this morning.
04:07Thank you and amen.
04:09They died so that others may live.
04:11And as the Bible says, there's no higher calling.
04:14You are willing to put your life on the line for other people.
04:17It's a testament to who you are.
04:18Thank you for keeping this city safe.
04:20You make our country proud at 250 years and future generations will stand on your shoulders to ensure America's capital
04:28and this great republic endures for another 250.
04:32It's an honor to serve you.
04:34And please know every single day we have your back in everything that you do.
04:39God bless you.
04:40God bless our capital.
04:42And God bless America at 250 years.
04:44Thank you very much.
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