On late Wednesday, as it became clear that Pete Hegseth’s chances of being confirmed as defense secretary were dwindling, reports began breaking that there were backups being considered — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — by President-elect Donald Trump.
At the time, The Wall Street Journal reported, the Trump transition team “consider[ed] the next 48 hours to be crucial to his fate,” including appearances on Capitol Hill and an interview on Fox News.
At the very least, Hegseth made the case for why Trump chose him in the first place during that “crucial” period — and appears to be fighting back.
In a spirited exchange with the media that went viral, Hegseth — a former Army National Guard officer, a veterans activist, and Fox News political commentator — said that he wasn’t going to play the media’s game and that “I answer to President Trump and I answer to my Lord and Savior,” not the press.
The moment came after a series of meetings on Capitol Hill in which he sought to reassure GOP senators that he was fit to serve in the role.
The nomination has become the most problematic for the incoming Trump administration, and not just because of Hegseth’s lack of experience in an executive governmental role or high-ranking military position.
A bevy of allegations regarding his private life have managed to cast a cloud over the pick, and while some of them appear to be ludicrously specious — particularly a 2017 sexual misconduct claim which ended in no charges and the details of which would almost be comical in a less-serious matter — some of the arguments against him do have merit, even through Hegseth’s own words.
For instance, numerous claims of Hegseth’s overuse of alcohol have emerged in the wake of the pick. While a great number of them were in a New Yorker hit piece — which, consider the source, and also consider the fact others went on record to call the allegations flat-out false — even Hegseth’s own statements on the matter could be seen as troubling in a certain light.
During a 2021 podcast interview, The Washington Post reported, Hegseth described how he would begin drinking early in the day after his return from his 2006 deployment to Iraq.
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“I’d look around at 10 o’clock and be like, ‘What am I going to do today? How about I drink some beers? How about I go have some lunch and have some beers? How about I meet my one or two buddies and have some beers?’” Hegseth said. “And one beers leads to many, leads to self-medication, leads to ‘I’ve earned this.’ Like, ‘Don’t tell me I can’t.’”
And while that may have been two decades ago, consider again the 2017 sexual misconduct allegation, in which Hegseth’s attorney said his client was so “visibly intoxicated” that the woman was the sexual “aggressor” in the encounter.
Put this together and Republicans have become skeptical this was the right choice. At the very least, Hegseth helped his cause during his Thursday blitz on Washington and the media, although it remains to be seen as to whether that’s enough.
That being said, he’s not going quietly — and displayed, at least, some of the fire that showed what got him the nod in the first place.
“I’m proud to be here,” Hegseth said after the final meeting of the day on Capitol Hill, according to Politico.
“And as long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I’m going to be standing right here in this fight, fighting to bring our Pentagon back to what it needs to be.”
He then turned his ire on the media:
Pete Hegseth: “I’m not going to back down from them one bit. This will not be a process tried in the media. I don’t answer to anyone in this group. None of you. I answer to President Trump and I answer to my Lord and Savior.” pic.twitter.com/OzDjEHfDB2
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) December 5, 2024
“I’m not going to back down from them one bit. This will not be a process tried in the media,” Hegseth said to the gaggle of reporters.
“I don’t answer to anyone in this group. None of you. I answer to President Trump and I answer to my Lord and Savior.”
Which is, of course, the right answer. This is something that should be decided in Congress, not in the media, and the people Hegseth answers to aren’t from the New Yorker or the Washington Post but from the Trump administration and from Heaven above. It’s also a reminder that, no matter what comes out during the confirmation hearings, the Democrats aren’t concerned about his past, they’re concerned about his current Christian values.
That being said, it being the right answer doesn’t necessarily make Hegseth a confirmable candidate — but it’ll go a long way to ensuring those 48 critical hours go as smoothly as possible.
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