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A retired Army colonel who has worked with the Pentagon to promote Pete Hegseth’s agenda has a history of praising dictators, denigrating women and minorities, and suggesting that only people with children should be allowed to vote.

Kurt Schlichter has over 620,000 followers on X. Last month, The Washington Post found that he appears in the government database with the designation of “HQE,” which could stand for “highly qualified expert.”

What wasn’t reported, however, were Schlichter’s posts on social media and other platforms in recent years that highlight extremist, anti-democratic worldviews. WIRED has reviewed many of these posts.

In an August 2021 thread on X, Schlichter demanded an authoritarian crackdown on “liberals.” In the thread, he advocates for banning everything from masks and unions to critical race theory and “leftist media.” www.wired.com/story/a-pent...

Schlichter has also repeatedly lashed out at women and minorities. In an article for conservative website Townhall, published in July 2026, Schlichter suggested that “liberal women” could bring about the end of Western civilization. www.wired.com/story/a-pent...