After days of relative silence on his nominee for defense secretary and rumors that he was eyeing replacements, President-elect Trump spoke out in support of Pete Hegseth Friday morning. Hegseth "is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense Defense (sic), one who leads with charisma and skill," Trump wrote, adding: "Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!"
Trump made no mention on the controversies that have caused Hegseth to be widely described as embattled, including a sexual assault allegation from 2017 and a Tuesday report that his colleagues at Fox News worried about his drinking. Hegseth said Thursday that he wouldn't drop out "as long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight," Politico reports. On Wednesday, he said he spoke to the president-elect that morning and Trump fully supports him. He also vowed that there wouldn't be a "drop of alcohol" on his lips if he was confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
It's not clear whether Hegseth has enough votes in the Senate to be confirmed, though his mother has reportedly been calling Republican senators on his behalf, according to Rolling Stone. Penelope Hegseth, who told her son in a 2018 email that he was an abuser of women, told Fox News on Wednesday that the email was written in "haste." "Pete is a new person. He's redeemed, forgiven, changed," she said, per USA Today. Another ally: JD Vance. "Led by President Trump, we're fighting for Pete Hegseth," the vice president-elect said in a post on X after Trump reaffirmed his support. "And we're doing so because Pete Hegseth (will) fight for our troops. For too long, the Pentagon has been led by people who lose wars. Pete Hegseth is a man who fought in those wars. We've got his back." (More Pete Hegseth stories.)
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