Former Fox News host and commentator Pete Hegseth is using the weapon he knows best to fight for his troubled nomination to be secretary of defense: the media.
Hegseth is under fire for a series of revelations about his past. These include allegations of rape, sexual assault, public drunkenness, and financial improprieties at a conservative nonprofit for veterans.
On Wednesday, Hegseth wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (which is owned by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch) arguing that he would not back down. “The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down,” he wrote, adding, “They provide no evidence, no names, and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf.”
In fact, one of the most prominent sources of information about Hegseth is a letter his own mother, Penelope Hegseth, wrote describing him as an abuser of women. She has admitted that she wrote the letter but has now said she doesn’t hold that view of her son.
Penelope Hegseth was a prominent part of the public relations blitz by Hegseth. She appeared on “Fox & Friends” (where he once worked) and pleaded his case with a direct appeal to the show’s audience, including Donald Trump.
Pete Hegseth also made an appearance on conservative pundit Megyn Kelly’s Sirius XM radio show on Wednesday to defend himself and tout his nomination (Kelly is a former co-worker of Hegseth’s at Fox News, where she once insisted that Santa Claus and Jesus are canonically white).
“I spoke to the president this morning. He said I'm his guy,” he told Kelly.
Hegseth made similar remarks while appearing on Capitol Hill where he spoke to senators about his pending nomination. Hegseth claimed that Trump told him to “keep fighting.”
Republican senators said that Hegseth has promised them that in exchange for being put in control of the entire U.S. military that he would not drink. One of the allegations that have come out is that Hegseth purportedly chanted “kill all Muslims” during a drunken rant.
At the same time Hegseth was leading a public relations campaign to save his nomination, chatter has increased that Trump is considering other candidates for the job like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A key issue that has been missing from the Hegseth nomination is the military. While he is ostensibly interviewing for a job that would involve major decisions about the armed forces and the interlocking domestic and international policies related to that position, Hegseth has had to deal with the fallout from his personal conduct.
Much of this drama stems from Trump’s process of picking people for prominent positions. Instead of vetting them based on their area of expertise, Trump picks people who frequently appear on television (Fox News in particular) and who say nice things about him. Their qualifications and expertise on the topic in question fall by the wayside, and it results in nominations like the Hegseth mess.