Trump’s Defense Pick Refuses to Back Down Despite Utter Humiliation
Ex–Fox News star Pete Hegseth won’t let go of his nomination to be Donald Trump’s next defense secretary.In a post on Wednesday, the accused rapist claimed that he would continue his ascent to the president-elect’s Cabinet despite his dwindling odds at passing a Senate confirmation hearing, branding himself as a “disruptor.”“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers,” Hegseth wrote alongside a photo of himself in combat gear. “The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump—and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth.“Our warriors never back down, & neither will I,” he added.Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday that he intended to meet with every senator, including those who were skeptical of his nomination.“We’re going to meet with every senator that wants to meet with us, across the board,” Hegseth said on his second full day on Capitol Hill courting members of the upper chamber. “And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process.”That plan has already fallen apart, as The Washington Post’s Marianne Levine reported Wednesday that Hegseth had canceled an upcoming meeting with Senator Josh Hawley.Conservatives have grown increasingly concerned about Hegseth’s ability to pass the Senate confirmation process in light of sexual assault allegations against the ex–Fox News host, including a detailed 2017 police report regarding Hegseth allegedly raping an attendee at a Republican women’s conference in Monterey, California.Since those allegations surfaced, Hegseth has admitted to several other scandals, including five affairs that he had during his first marriage.Even Hegseth’s own mother couldn’t defend the white nationalist–connected conservative, accusing her son in a scathing 2018 email following his separation from his second wife of “using women for his own power.”“On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote in the email, obtained by The New York Times Friday.“I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego,” she wrote. “You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”Hegseth’s mother has since publicly changed her tune—on Wednesday morning, she appeared on Fox News to beg people to support her son for defense secretary.But that’s not the only issue blocking Hegseth’s tenure at the top of the Pentagon: Reports of the Fox News anchor’s rampant drinking have prompted some GOP lawmakers to put their foot down on his nomination barring a promise of sobriety.“One of the things I’d love to hear is that he’s committed to not drinking,” Republican Senator Kevin Cramer told CNN on Wednesday. “Being familiar with the problems of alcoholism and the dumb things we do when we drink too much, it’d be really nice if he could set that one aside for good, if not at least through his term as secretary.”
Ex–Fox News star Pete Hegseth won’t let go of his nomination to be Donald Trump’s next defense secretary.
In a post on Wednesday, the accused rapist claimed that he would continue his ascent to the president-elect’s Cabinet despite his dwindling odds at passing a Senate confirmation hearing, branding himself as a “disruptor.”
“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers,” Hegseth wrote alongside a photo of himself in combat gear. “The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump—and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth.
“Our warriors never back down, & neither will I,” he added.
Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday that he intended to meet with every senator, including those who were skeptical of his nomination.
“We’re going to meet with every senator that wants to meet with us, across the board,” Hegseth said on his second full day on Capitol Hill courting members of the upper chamber. “And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process.”
That plan has already fallen apart, as The Washington Post’s Marianne Levine reported Wednesday that Hegseth had canceled an upcoming meeting with Senator Josh Hawley.
Conservatives have grown increasingly concerned about Hegseth’s ability to pass the Senate confirmation process in light of sexual assault allegations against the ex–Fox News host, including a detailed 2017 police report regarding Hegseth allegedly raping an attendee at a Republican women’s conference in Monterey, California.
Since those allegations surfaced, Hegseth has admitted to several other scandals, including five affairs that he had during his first marriage.
Even Hegseth’s own mother couldn’t defend the white nationalist–connected conservative, accusing her son in a scathing 2018 email following his separation from his second wife of “using women for his own power.”
“On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote in the email, obtained by The New York Times Friday.
“I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego,” she wrote. “You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”
Hegseth’s mother has since publicly changed her tune—on Wednesday morning, she appeared on Fox News to beg people to support her son for defense secretary.
But that’s not the only issue blocking Hegseth’s tenure at the top of the Pentagon: Reports of the Fox News anchor’s rampant drinking have prompted some GOP lawmakers to put their foot down on his nomination barring a promise of sobriety.
“One of the things I’d love to hear is that he’s committed to not drinking,” Republican Senator Kevin Cramer told CNN on Wednesday. “Being familiar with the problems of alcoholism and the dumb things we do when we drink too much, it’d be really nice if he could set that one aside for good, if not at least through his term as secretary.”
