We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

More than 100 Navy SEAL veterans are set to march in Washington, DC, in support of Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation, friend and show host Alec Lace told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview.

The march is being organized by Navy SEAL veteran Bill “Freak” Brown, the founder of the New York City SEAL Swim across the Hudson River, which Hegseth has participated in for several years.

Lace, host of The Alec Lace Show, who has done the swim twice and is helping Brown spread the word about the march, told Breitbart News:

Pete Hegseth has been a monumental part of promoting that Navy SEALs Swim. He swam across the Hudson River a number of years in a row. And so he’s been a big advocate for the Navy SEALs and now that he needs help, the Navy SEALs, Bill Brown has turned around and they are going to be helping Pete Hegseth in any way that they can.

He said the SEALs “immediately jumped on to sign up to go and support him.”

The march will take place on the same day as Hegseth’s Senate confirmation hearing when it is scheduled next month.

Lace said it was not only SEALs who have signed up, but veterans from the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as Gold Star parents and members of the New York Fire Department.

Some prominent Navy SEAL veterans participating include Jason Redman, Rob O’Neill, Ray “Cash” Care, Rob “Sleep Genius” Sweetman, Cameron Hamilton, Blake Booth, Joe Masalta, Chris Wyllie, Larry Summerfield, Dale Wooden, Terra Flynn, and Roger Lee Crossland.

Also participating is Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Michael Flynn, Gold Star father Charles Strange, father of Navy SEAL Michael Strange, who was killed on Extortion 17, and Gold Star mother Cindy Dietz, mother of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, who was killed in Operation Red Wings.

“The list continues to grow,” Lace said. “If you’re a patriot, if you’re a vet, you’re more than welcome to sign up and join the cause here.”

Redman recently expressed his support for Hegseth in a recent video he posted on X, saying:

The military is for three things – defend the homeland, project strength as a deterrent to enemies, fight our nation’s wars. @PeteHegseth understands this. It is not a social experiment. But the people who want to weaken it and use it as one, are doing everything in their power to prevent Pete from becoming the next Secretary of Defense. I know Pete. Watch my video.

The march will come amid a concerted smear campaign against Hegseth, based on anonymous allegations, aimed at weakening support among Republican senators. However, it has also prompted a groundswell of support for Hegseth from former coworkers, friends, and supporters.

As to why so many veterans are coming out to support Hegseth, Lace said, “Pete has been there for them and he’s a big advocate in the veteran community.”

“I’ll tell you just from being at these swims…the amount of respect and love that these guys have for Pete Hegseth is very apparent immediately when you get there,” he said, adding:

There’s a camaraderie that these guys have amongst one another. These guys that have been in combat. There’s a mutual respect for one another [and] they know better than anybody that Pete Hegseth is the right man for the job for Secretary of Defense. And their word means a lot more than a lot of these political pundits that are trying to put smear campaigns against Pete.

“I’m going to take the word of these guys that have laid it on the line for our country over these people that are sitting behind a microphone and telling you, ‘Oh, Pete shouldn’t be able to do it because of this or that. These guys, their word means a lot more.”

Lace said veteran support for Hegseth has been “overwhelming.”

“They really feel passionate about this cause. They want to see changes in our military. They’ve seen it getting weakened with this woke ideology that has taken over and just made its way into the military at the highest levels. They’re sick and tired of it. These guys are war fighters,” he said.

“They don’t want to see the way that our military has been degraded over the last few years with this last administration and they want something to be done about it. And so they’re making their voices heard loud and proud and, and they are 100 percent behind Hegseth.”

“I think you’re going to be surprised by the amount of people that actually show up there that are gonna be supporting Pete. So if you want to join the fight, sign up and get on board,” he said.

Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on ”X”, Truth Social, or on Facebook.