The embattled Hegseth says Trump told him to keep fighting

WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for defense secretary, brushed aside suggestions Wednesday that he should drop out, saying he had spoken to Trump, who urged him to “keep on, keep fighting.” .

“I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said, ‘Keep going, keep fighting.’ I’m behind you all the way,'” Hegseth told CBS News at the Capitol on Wednesday. “Why should I back out? I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here because of the fighters. This is personal and passionate to me.”

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and military veteran, made his comments as he moved between meetings with the Republican senators whose votes he needs to be confirmed.

But his nomination appeared to be in serious jeopardy on Tuesday and Wednesday after a series of news reports raised further questions about his interactions with women and his history with alcohol. NBC News reported Tuesday that Hegseth’s drinking was troubling his colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees. Before the broadcast, colleagues said at times that he smelled of alcohol or spoke of a hangover.

On Wednesday, Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, defended her son on “Fox and Friends” and addressed a 2018 email she wrote during his divorce that accused him of abusing women for years. Details of the email were published last week by The New York Times.

Hegseth has denied abusing women and dismissed allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in Monterey, California, in 2017, describing the encounter as consensual. He reached an undisclosed settlement with the woman last year.

Responding to NBC’s report about Hegseth’s drinking, a Trump transition official called the allegations “completely baseless and false.”

With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate next year, any of Trump’s nominees can afford to lose just three GOP votes if all Democrats vote no. That makes Hegseth’s path to confirmation extremely treacherous: According to multiple Republican sources familiar with the process, as many as six Senate Republicans disagree with supporting Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon, and there could be more.

Still, Hegseth showed no signs of giving up on Wednesday. That morning, Hegseth sat with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in his committee office. Around noon, Hegseth met with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who was recently elected majority leader.

Hegseth also made the short walk across the Capitol to the House side to meet with members of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative faction on Capitol Hill (although House members do not vote on executive branch nominees).

Later Wednesday, Hegseth was scheduled to meet with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, an Iraq War veteran and sexual assault and domestic violence survivor whose name has been floated as one of several to replace Hegseth if he resigns.

NBC News reported Tuesday night that Trump was considering replacing Hegseth amid opposition to his nomination. Other people Trump could tap to lead the Pentagon include Ernst, according to sources familiar with the decision-making; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former primary rival who later endorsed Trump; Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Trump’s former ambassador to Japan; and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Florida, Trump’s current nominee for national security adviser.

Trump has already seen a high-profile Cabinet chief leave. Before the Thanksgiving break, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, another Florida Republican, dropped his bid to become Trump’s attorney general after facing opposition from Republican senators. And on Tuesday, Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff and Trump’s nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, said he would remove his name from consideration.