WASHINGTON — Pete Hegsett, the candidate for the position of defense minister of the newly elected president of the United States, Donald TrumpOn Wednesday, he brushed aside suggestions that he was withdrawing and said he had spoken to Trump, who urged him to “keep going, keep fighting.”
“I spoke with the president-elect this morning. He said: “Go on, go on fighting. I’m behind you all the way,’” Hexeth told CBS News at the Capitol Wednesday. “Why should I retreat? I have always been a fighter. I’m here for the fighters. It’s personal and passionate for me.”
Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor and military veteran, said as he walked between meetings with Republican senators whose votes needed to be confirmed.
But his candidacy was in serious jeopardy on Tuesday and Wednesday after a series of reports raised more questions about his treatment of women and his history with alcohol. This was reported by NBC News on Tuesday Hexeth’s drinking disturbed his colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees. Sometimes, before going on the air, his colleagues told him that he smelled of alcohol or that he was hung over.
On Wednesday, Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, defended his son On “Fox & Friends” and in 2018, she addressed her email address during her divorce, accusing him of mistreating women for years. Details of the email were published by The New York Times last week.
Hegseth denied mistreating women and denied the claims In 2017, he sexually assaulted a woman in Monterey, California, describing the encounter as consensual. He arrived undisclosed settlement last year with a woman.
Responding to NBC’s report of Hegseth’s drinking, a Trump transition official called the allegations “totally unfounded and false.”
with Republicans have a 53 to 47 majority each of Trump’s Senate nominees next year could lose just three GOP votes if all Democrats vote no. This makes Hegseth’s way of confirmation extremely treacherous: Six Senate Republicans are not comfortable supporting Hexett There could be a bid to lead the Pentagon and more, according to multiple GOP sources familiar with the process.
Hegseth showed no signs of letting up on Wednesday. In the morning, Hegseth huddled with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in the committee office. Around noon, Hexeth met with Sen. John Thune of the RSD, who was recently elected majority leader.
In response to the allegations against him, Hegseth referred reporters to an interview he had taped earlier in the day with former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. In the meantime, he said, he’s focused on “what Donald Trump is asking me to do.”
“Your job is to restore morale to the enemy,” he said. “Your job is to make sure it’s lethal, lethal, lethal. Everything else is gone. Anything that distracts from that shouldn’t happen. That’s the message I heard from senators in the consultation and consent process. It’s been a wonderful process.”
Hegseth also made a short trip from the Capitol to the House side, meeting with members of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative group on Capitol Hill (although House members do not vote on executive nominees).
On Tuesday, Hexeth was scheduled to meet with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, an Iraq war veteran and survivor of sexual assault and domestic violence.
NBC News reported Tuesday evening that Trump was considering replacing Hegsett amid opposition to his nomination. Others Trump could use to lead the Pentagonsources familiar with decision-making Ernst; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a one-time primary challenger, later endorsed Trump; Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Trump’s former ambassador to Japan; and Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s current pick for US national security adviser.
Trump has already seen one high-profile Cabinet pick. Before Thanksgiving, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, another Republican from Florida, turned down a bid to become Trump’s attorney general after facing opposition from GOP senators. And on Tuesday, Chad Chronister, the Florida sheriff and Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the name was being considered.
Lindsey Pipia, Kate Santaliz and Kyle Stewart contributed.