Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s choice for the top post at the Pentagon, said Trump encouraged him to “keep on fighting,” despite a slew of negative headlines leaving his nomination in question.
“This is where I give so much credit to President Trump. He’s got a backbone of steal,” the former “Fox & Friends” host told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “He never backs down. He called me and said, ‘Pete, you keep fighting.'”
“And when he picked me, he said, ‘It’s because I know you can do this. You have to be tough as hell, stare these folks down, and stand up for the change that needs to come to the Defense Department for our men and women in uniform,'” Hegseth continued.
The Army veteran added, “So if he can endure what he’s done; Sean, then I can stick up to this lying press and fight on for the American people and our war fighters.”
Hegseth’s comments come as he’s faced mounting scrutiny related to allegations of sexual misconduct connected to an encounter he says was consensual, previous comments he’s made about not allowing women to be in combat roles in the military and accusations of excessive drinking.
A story from The New York Times story also reported that Hegseth’s mother sent him an email in 2018 accusing him of “routinely mistreating women for years” and displaying a “lack of character.”
His mother, Penelope Hegseth, recanted her comments during a phone interview with The Times. But she said she sent a follow-up message at the time apologizing for her original email, claiming she sent it “in anger, with emotion” when her son and his wife were going through a divorce.
Though, Hegseth has maintained that he won’t back down amid the backlash and has suggested that he is the target of a smear campaign from Democrats.
The former news host continues to face an uphill battle for Senate confirmation, even as some Republicans have signaled that they could support him in the long run.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a vital member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is seen as a key vote for Hegseth if he remains the nominee. Ernst, who has worked to combat sexual assault in the military, has been noncommittal on her support for Trump’s Defense pick. Though, on Monday, she said she had an “encouraging” meeting with him.
While the GOP flipped the upper chamber in last month’s election, they will have just a one-person majority in the committee. This means that if any Republican were to vote against Hegseth, it could complicate the chance of his nomination advancing to a full floor vote.
Trump has in recent days upped his praise of Hegseth, including in an interview Sunday on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”
“It looks like Pete is doing well now,” the president-elect told host Kristen Welker. “I mean, people were a little bit concerned. He’s a young guy, with a tremendous track record actually.”
The transition team has also reportedly been vetting other candidates should Hegseth’s nomination fall through.
