House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (-NY) is blasting Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after a shocking report revealed that the U.S. Naval Academy removed hundreds of books—including works on the Holocaust—while still keeping Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf on the shelves. Jeffries called Hegseth a “Dumb Effing Individual” and accused him of promoting white supremacy and Nazi ideology.
In a fiery video posted to his official X account, Jeffries unloaded on Hegseth over the book removals, which were carried out under the claim of targeting DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) content.
“These DEI hires in the Trump administration, like Pete Hegseth, the so-called Secretary of Defense – Dumb Effing Individuals – continue to try to test our resolve and cancel our history,” Jeffries said.
According to a statement from the Navy shared with Fox News Digital, the Naval Academy pulled nearly 400 books from the Nimitz Library “to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president.” The library still holds more than half a million books, but the removals have drawn national attention—especially for what was taken out and what was left behind.
The New York Times reported that Memorializing the Holocaust by Janet Jacobs, a book about female Holocaust victims, was removed. Meanwhile, Hitler’s Mein Kampf was not.
“‘The Bell Curve,’ which argues that Black men and women are genetically less intelligent than white people, is still there,” the Times wrote. “But a critique of the book was pulled.”
Jeffries tore into the decision.
“The outrageous Naval Academy book ban targets Maya Angelou and the Holocaust, but excludes Adolf Hitler,” he said. “This must be reversed immediately.”
He added: “Apparently for these extremists, racist Nazi ideology and White supremacy is okay. We’re going to keep the pressure on these extremist who continue to try to whitewash our history,” Jeffries said. “We’re going to keep the pressure on until this book band is reversed and Pete Hegseth is fired.”
Jeffries listed several past attempts to censor Black history and promised this would not stand either.
“They tried to cancel Jackie Robinson. We reversed it. They try to cancel Harriet Tubman. We reversed it. They tried to cancel the Tuskegee Airmen. We reversed it,” he said. “We’re going to keep the pressure on until this book band is reversed and Pete Hegseth is fired.”
You can watch the clip below via Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on X (Twitter).
The outrageous Naval Academy book ban targets Maya Angelou and the Holocaust, but excludes Adolf Hitler.
This must be reversed immediately. pic.twitter.com/5jZ8Z3F3iG
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) April 12, 2025
