Pete Hegseth admitted that there is some truth to the damning reports that have cast doubts over whether he will remain Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department.
The former Fox News host said he received words of encouragement from Trump when they spoke Wednesday morning amid a flurry of news reports containing allegations against Hegseth.
From the get go, Hegseth was a controversial pick in part due to his more fringe views – like saying women should not serve in combat roles in the military.
But other, more concerning reports emerged over the last two weeks, including claims of sexual harassment; allegations that he was carried out of events on works trips because he was too drunk and would routinely drink on the job; and a New York Times report publishing a 2018 email from his mother calling Hegseth an ‘abuser of women.’
Hegseth told Megyn Kelly on her show there are ‘kernels of truth’ is some reporting that he claims have been blown into something that now more resembled a lie.
He also published an op/ed with the Wall Street Journal where he admitted to sometimes having some alcohol with other military members ‘to manage the reality of what we had faced’ in war zones.
Speaking to Kelly, Hegseth detailed his conversation with Trump on Wednesday and says he was provided words of encouragement from the president-elect to continue his Capitol Hill campaign to lobby senators to vote for his confirmation in the New Year.
‘He supports me. We talked,’ Hegseth said of his conversation with Trump. ‘He said, you go meet those senators and I’ve got your back.’
Pete Hegseth went on The Megyn Kelly Show on Wednesday to again defend himself against a slew of damning reports about him – and admitted there are ‘kernels of truth’ in some of the stories
Hegseth also wrote in an op/ed of his time working at Vets for Freedom: ‘Like veterans returning from any war, we drank beers to manage the reality of what we had faced. But we never did anything improper, and we treated everyone with respect’
The father-of-seven also recalled to Kelly how Trump said: ‘Pete, I’ve got your back. It’s a fight, they’re coming after you. Get after it.’
Kelly asked Hegseth if he felt like he was getting the same media treatment as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh received during his confirmation process.
‘I had a member not 45 minutes ago look me in the eye in private, just he and I, and say: ‘That’s what they’re trying to do to you.”
”That’s their playbook, get ready for more. And they’re going to make it up, just like they did so far. All anonymous, all innuendo, all rumor, nothing sourced, no verification. And they’re just going to keep doing it. Because you’re a threat to them,” he continued in recollecting what a Republican lawmaker told him.
Hegseth, however, lauded the Trump nominee who went on to be confirmed: ‘Kavanaugh stood up and he fought and he won. And hopefully Republicans have learned that lesson.’
‘Trump stood by him,’ he added. ‘What you’re seeing right now with me is the art of the smear.’
‘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,’ Hegseth concluded.
Some of the most damning reports allege that Hegseth routinely would get drunk or drink excessively while working at veterans organizations as well as when he was a host at Fox News.
Hegseth was joined by wife Jennifer Rauchet during meetings on Capitol Hill on December 4, 2024 as he continues to meet with senators and lobby for their confirmation vote next year
Hegseth’s mother Penelope went on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning to counter the New York Times after it published a 2018 email she sent to her son in the midst of his divorce where she called him an ‘abuser of women’
In the Journal op/ed penned on Wednesday, Trump’s Pentagon chief pick acknowledged that he wasn’t always perfect when he was helping lead the initiative at Vets for Freedom and sometimes might have had a few too many beers.
‘We weren’t perfect, but we were always honest and earnest,’ he admitted. ‘We raised money honestly and spent it earnestly—to advance our cause. We weren’t political experts, but we were patriotic believers.’
‘Like veterans returning from any war, we drank beers to manage the reality of what we had faced,’ he wrote. ‘But we never did anything improper, and we treated everyone with respect. We had a new mission and fought for it.’
When Trump told the veteran that he would nominate him as the next Defense Secretary, Hegseth claimed he told him: ‘You’re going to need to be tough as shit.’
