The Problemed Nominee

Erick Erickson on Dec 6, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. Hegseth left a well-paid Wall Street job to deploy with the Army National Guard to Guantanamo Bay in 2004, and then to Iraq shortly afterward. He then worked for military nonprofits before joining Fox in 2014.

There are some real problems with Hegseth's nomination. First, he failed to disclose an incident with police to the Trump team that related to a purported sexual assault. It seems clear there was no sexual assault, but Hegseth should have raised it and did not.

Second, his tenure in charge of nonprofits and their condition at his departure raise questions about his ability to manage the most complex and unwieldy bureaucracy in the United States. The Pentagon needs a change agent, and Hegseth's past does not necessarily suggest he is capable.

Those are the problems, but people would rather focus on Hegseth's personal conduct. He was a serial adulterer, cheating on his first wife repeatedly. He also cheated on his second wife. At some point, he had sex in a hotel with a woman who then filed a police report against him. Hegseth's mother called him out in an email.

It appears that his behavior is in the past. Hegseth joined a church. He has worked on his relationship with his third wife. Those in his church attest to his involvement. It seems he has battled his demons and repented, though he has not discussed the matter publicly.

If that's the case, there is no reason to bind him either to his past life or to anonymous allegations about his drinking while at Fox News -- multiple Fox News employees, from producers who worked with him to his fellow on-air talent, refute all those allegations about his time at Fox News on the record.

Hegseth's mother now defends him, saying he cleaned up his life. She has been making calls on his behalf. One must wonder how someone got a hold of her email to Hegseth. It has been years since she wrote that email.

MAGA supporters are blaming Sens. Joni Ernst and Lindsey Graham. There is no evidence they are trying to sabotage Hegseth. The attacks on Ernst, in particular, seem designed to stop her from being Hegseth's replacement if he should drop out, and Graham is always one of their favorite targets.

For now, Hegseth says he will not withdraw himself from consideration. He should not. He is being maligned for past sins that are documented and present rumors that no one is brave enough to lend their name to.

There are questions about the appropriateness of his nomination to lead such a massive bureaucracy based on his past business experience, but no one really wants to discuss that.

Because of his background, Hegseth lacks the votes in the Senate. However, the personal attacks on his character are more salacious and more likely to push him out of the running. Senators do not want to vote against Donald Trump's defense secretary nomination, so some are trying to drive Hegseth out with character attacks in the press.

Concurrently, some on the Trump transition team are also trying to push Hegseth out. President Trump might want him, but those around Trump want to push Hegseth aside. My personal but informed view is that the NBC News story about Hegseth at Fox comes from those in Trump's orbit, not the Senate's orbit. Ernst and Graham, in particular, tend not to plant stories there, but several people in Trump's orbit use NBC News to seed stories.

Hegseth seems like a good redemption story to whom we should show grace on his past. We're all sinners, and he seems to have worked on those sins. But that's not how Washington works. Instead, we'll watch the spectacle of character assassination as various interests try to get him shoved aside.

If Trump supports Hegseth, as he did with now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Hegseth might be able to earn the votes of Senators through frank conversations. We should let him try it.

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To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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