President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth is fighting back against a seemingly coordinated media attack driven by anonymous smears in an attempt to take down his nomination to lead the government’s largest agency.
He posted on X Wednesday morning:
I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers. The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump —and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I.
Hegseth continued Wednesday morning to meet with senators who will be responsible for confirming him.
He shot down incipient rumors that Trump was considering replacing him with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, telling a reporter: “I spoke to the President–elect this morning. He said, ‘Keep going. keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way.”
Asked if he was in this “all the way,” the combat veteran responded, “Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here for the fighters. This is personal and passionate.”
Trump’s support — and Hegseth’s defiance — comes amid smears stemming from anonymous sources about allegations that stem from as far back as a decade ago.
The first smear stemmed from a far-left Democrat activist who claimed Hegseth’s tattoos were linked to white supremacy. In fact, they are related to his Christian faith, and not white supremacy.
The second smear was a report on 2017 allegations from a woman that he raped her. However, a police report of the alleged incident showed there was no evidence of rape, and surveillance video contradicted the woman’s account. In addition, no charges were filed.
The third smear came as the New York Times obtained a published an angry email from Hegseth’s mother amid his divorce from his then-wife, accusing him of mistreating women. Breitbart News reported exclusively on a follow-up email that she sent her son apologizing for what she wrote. and she herself appeared on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning to explain and disavow what she wrote.
“We Need a Drill Sergeant” Sen. Tuberville Supports Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary
She said of her email, “I don’t want to use the words, but he doesn’t misuse women. No. I mean, he, you know, he’s been through some difficult things. I’m not going to list them by name, but I would just say that some of those, some of those attachments or descriptions, are just not true, especially anymore.”
A fourth smear piece centered on accusations from a decade ago when fired co-workers at Concerned Veterans for America created a document complaining about the leadership, alleging that Hegseth drank too much at holiday parties and after-work events. The piece also claimed that Hegseth was forced to leave the organization, which two other former co-workers and leaders of the organization told Breitbart News was absolutely not true and that Hegseth resigned voluntarily because he supported Trump and the organization’s funders at the time did not.
The latest smear piece to drop claimed he came into work smelling of alcohol — prompting an outpouring of support from dozens of his coworkers at Fox News who came out on the record and called it an outright lie and said there was no truth to that whatsoever.
So far, Hegseth has received strong support from a number of Republican senators, including female senators who have been undeterred by the smears, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Cynthia Lummis (WY), and Shelley Moore Capito (WV). Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Sen. Joni Ernst (IA), who is rumored to want the defense secretary position and has not expressed support for him yet.
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