Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial pick for defense secretary, reaffirmed his determination to secure the role in a passionate statement on Wednesday. Amid growing questions about his qualifications and past conduct, Hegseth vowed to “fight like hell” to demonstrate that he is the right choice to lead the Department of Defense. However, his confirmation remains uncertain. Republican senators have expressed concerns over allegations of misconduct related to Hegseth’s time as a Fox News host and his prior military service.
Hegseth described meeting with Senators and the Senate Armed Services Committee as a “wonderful process.” He continued, “That’s what Donald Trump asked me to do. Your job is to bring a war-fighting ethos back to the Pentagon. Your job is to make sure that it’s lethality, lethality, lethality! Everything else is gone. Everything else that distracts from that shouldn’t be happening. That’s the message I’m hearing from Senators in that advise and consent process. It’s been a wonderful process.”
During a subsequent appearance on Megyn Kelly’s podcast, Hegseth laid out what he sees going on. “It is the classic art of the smear,” Hegseth said on Wednesday. “Take whatever tiny kernels of truth — and there are tiny, tiny ones in there — and blow them up into a masquerade of a narrative about somebody that I am definitely not.” In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday, the Iraq and Afghanistan combat vet added: “I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing, not a press show trial based on anonymous accusations.”
Several Fox News personalities have publicly disputed allegations against Pete Hegseth, strongly rebuffing a recent NBC News report. The NBC article, which cited ten unnamed current and former Fox employees, claimed that Hegseth displayed concerning drinking behavior while co-hosting Fox & Friends Weekend. Many of Hegseth’s colleagues have dismissed these claims as unfounded. The allegations included accounts from two sources who said they smelled alcohol on Hegseth on multiple occasions before he went on air, as well as reports that Hegseth appeared on television after discussing being hungover.
“One of the sources said they smelled alcohol on him as recently as last month and heard him complain about being hungover this fall,” the piece claimed. “None of the sources with whom NBC News has spoken could recall an instance when Hegseth missed a scheduled appearance because he’d been drinking.” Will Cain, a longtime co-host alongside Hegseth, dismissed the report bluntly. “Bullsht. 100 percent bullsht. Actually…horsesht,” Cain posted on X (formerly Twitter). He later added: “Your story is horsesht, @NBCNews. Put my name on it. On the record. It’ll be your only on-the-record source. Signed, the guy who sat next to him for eight hours every week for five years starting at 6 a.m.”
Bullshit. 100 percent bullshit. Actually…horseshit. https://t.co/GgD6Ax455q
— Will Cain (@willcain) December 3, 2024
Rachel Campos-Duffy, another Fox News colleague who worked closely with Hegseth, echoed Cain’s sentiment. “The losers at @NBCNews never reached out to me either. @WillCain is right—your story IS horsesh*t. You now have 2 people who sat next to him 8+ hours a week on the record. Will you retract or correct your story?” Campos-Duffy wrote.
The losers at @NBCNews never reached out to me either. @willcain is right – your story IS horseshit. You now have 2 people who sat next to him 8+ hours a week on the record. Will you retract or correct your story? https://t.co/s5YJsI23EV
— Rachel Campos-Duffy (@RCamposDuffy) December 4, 2024