GOP pollster dismisses allegations against Pete Hegseth: ‘Extracurricular activities’

Republican pollster and strategist Lee Carter said Wednesday that she found it “insulting and wrong” that so much attention had been paid to allegations of Pete Hegseth’s excessive drinking and sexual impropriety, describing the high-profile allegations as merely “extracurricular activities.” .

Shortly afterwards Hegseth’s mother appeared Fox & friends Vocally defending her embattled son as his nomination to head the Pentagon hangs perilously in the balance, Carter told CNN that she has known the former Fox News star for years and has enjoyed working with him in the past.

“I mean, there’s no question what happened in his previous marriage and where he is today. And I’m sure there are rocky roads behind the scenes,” she explained during an appearance on CNN Newsroom. “The Pete Hegseth I know is a man who is a pleasure to work with. I’ve never smelled alcohol on his breath. I traveled with him to debates. I traveled with him to primary states. I traveled with him and that Fox & friends I’ve never seen any of the behavior we’re talking about across the team.”

NBC News reported Tuesday that during Hegseth’s tenure as Fox & Friends weekend Colleagues expressed concern about his alleged alcohol abuse, noting that he regularly complained about his hangovers and behaved as if “the rules don’t apply to him.” Two of his former co-hosts said they often smelled alcohol on his breath before he went on air on the weekend morning show.

Following the NBC story, several Fox News hosts and commentators — who had previously ignored mounting allegations against their ex-colleague — denied that Hegseth had a drinking problem, including his former one Fox & friends Colleagues on Wednesday morning. Hegseth’s mother also condemned her 2018 email in which she criticized her son for years of mistreating women.

However, this NBC report is just the tip of the iceberg. This comes after it was reported last month that a woman accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her in 2017 and then paying her off years later to keep the story secret and protect his job at Fox News. He is also accused of, among other things, mismanaging the funds of the veterans groups he led, sexually harassing young female employees, behaving drunk and rude at work, and once shouting “Kill all Muslims” in a bar. Hesgeth has vehemently denied all claims.

Carter, meanwhile, stressed Wednesday that while allegations that Hegseth was a poor organizational leader during his time as CEO of Concerned Veterans for America were relevant, all other allegations about his personal behavior and conduct should be “off the table.”

“I mean, it’s just that politics is a blood sport right now, and you can understand why really good people don’t want to do it,” she claimed. “When we look at what happened here, we should focus on what is important. Is he qualified for the job? What happened in his previous marriage, what happened in his personal life, all of that is off the table.”

As the segment continued, Carter became increasingly angry as the conversation shifted back to reports of Hegseth’s drinking on the job and whether that meant he could be trusted to lead a defense department with over two million employees. At the same time, she seemed dismissive of all other allegations against him.

“This is an all-hands attack. We focus on whether he drank or not. “We’re focused on whether or not he did extracurricular activities,” Carter said. “The point you’re making: Is he qualified for the job? Can he lead? Does he have the experience to lead an organization of this size? This is valid. We should talk about that. The rest of this is hearsay.”

She went on to say that “every one of his co-hosts” has said that the alcohol allegations on Fox News are “not true,” before claiming that Democrats and the media are “taking their eyes off the prize” when it comes to whether or not not that Hegseth is actually qualified to be defense minister.

“And I think you’re making the whole thing ineffective. And I honestly think the Democrats are doing more damage by doing something like this than focusing on the real issue, which everyone has a right to,” Carter exclaimed.

“Is he the right person for the job? Is he qualified not because of hearsay attacks, but because of the real things? Did he get enough people together to be able to do this job? Is he the right person for this job? These are good questions,” she concluded. “I find the rest offensive and wrong.”