Pete Hegseth, the current choice, denied the accusations against him, suggesting that the president-elect was seriously considering selecting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Pete Hegseth, in a high-profile interview, said that President-elect Donald J. Trump assured him, “I got your back,” as part of a public push to boost waning support for his appointment as defense secretary. It’s a battle. They are pursuing you.
However, despite Mr. Hegseth’s insistence that Mr. Trump was pressuring him to run, the president-elect seemed to be seriously considering appointing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his former primary opponent, as his defense secretary.
According to some close to him, Mr. Trump has expressed his approval of the notion of hiring Mr. DeSantis, stating that it would be a “big story” if he were to defeat Mr. DeSantis and then bring him back to life. The president-elect has previously called Mr. DeSantis “a Navy guy” and commended his abilities to govern Florida, where Mr. Trump resides.
Michael Waltz, a congressman from Florida whom Mr. Trump appointed as his national security advisor, has been informally touted by Mr. Trump as an alternative, citing the ease with which the Senate might approve him. However, some close to Mr. Trump think that if he chooses to leave Mr. Hegseth, Mr. DeSantis is now his first option.
Mr. Hegseth denied claims of rape, sexual assault, financial mismanagement, and intoxicated conduct, calling them a fabrication of Mr. Trump’s adversaries in an interview with Megyn Kelly of SiriusXM radio. He likened it to charges made against Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh during his nomination hearings for the Supreme Court.Mr. Hegseth said, “It is the classic art of the smear.” “Take whatever small bits of truth—and there are minuscule, minuscule ones in there—and blow them up into a story about someone I am most definitely not.”Later, he informed Ms. Kelly that he would not consume “a drop of alcohol” while serving as defense secretary if he were confirmed.In a column published in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, he reiterated his grievances against the news media, stating that “I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing with our distinguished senators — not a show trial in the press.”
He said, “Why would I back down?” when asked by reporters on Capitol Hill earlier in the day whether he would concede in the face of rumors that Mr. Trump was already discussing Mr. DeSantis as a potential substitute. I’ve been a warrior all my life. In an attempt to allay worries about news media allegations of his actions, including a 2018 email from his mother accusing him of a habit of violence against women, Mr. Hegseth had been to Capitol Hill to speak with senators. In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Penelope Hegseth, who claimed in the email that her son “belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around,” said she regretted writing the email and that Mr. Hegseth was not the same person she had scolded in 2018. During an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Mrs. Hegseth said, “Pete is a new person.” She asked senators to listen to him right now if they want to consider his candidacy. She said, “He’s changed, redeemed, and forgiven.”
Some in Mr. Trump’s inner circle welcomed Mrs. Hegseth’s arrival with hope, telling friends they think it may help ease some of the anxiety around the whirlpool of accusations. Conservative activists’ social media posts endorsing Mr. Hegseth have also given them encouragement. However, Mr. Trump’s supporters are worried that Republican senators may now doubt Mr. Hegseth’s capacity to succeed as a result of the public information that The Journal previously revealed about the president-elect’s private discussions with Mr. DeSantis. Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa and a war veteran who has spoken about experiencing sexual assault herself, was the most anticipated meeting of the day for Mr. Hegseth. On Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Ernst told reporters that she and Mr. Hegseth had a “frank and thorough conversation” following their private encounter. Neither she nor Mr. Hegseth responded to any more inquiries.
Support for the embattled candidate may have increased if Mr. Hegseth had left the meeting with Ms. Ernst’s endorsement, according to Mr. Trump’s allies. Additionally, they said that if Ms. Ernst declined to support him, it may spell disaster for a campaign that some Republicans already consider to be almost dead. She had told reporters she needed to have “a very thorough discussion” with Mr. Hegseth prior to the meeting. Mr. Hegseth suddenly canceled a Thursday meeting with Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley shortly after he talked with Ms. Kelly for the radio broadcast. The meeting will happen next week, according to transition officials, who indicated there were only minor schedule conflicts. Trump supporters Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota have described the accusations against Mr. Hegseth as troubling, but they also believe he should be given an opportunity to explain himself.
Mr. Cramer told The Washington Post, “I learned that he has that problem licked. We simply cannot have a secretary of defense who regularly gets drunk.” According to two individuals familiar with Mr. Trump’s thinking, he has made it apparent to those close to him that he feels Mr. Hegseth ought to have been more forthright about the difficulties he would have in being confirmed. On Tuesday, while attending a ceremony for three Florida sheriff’s officers who lost their lives in a vehicle accident, Mr. Trump spoke with Mr. DeSantis about his interest in becoming defense secretary. However, there are a lot of individuals in Mr. Trump’s inner circle who despise and mistrust Mr. DeSantis, and they still harbor resentment about the campaign he conducted against the president-elect. Those folks are talking about other possibilities, including if Mr. Waltz might fit right in.
Although Mr. DeSantis’s earlier criticism of Mr. Trump does not typically pose a barrier for his appointments, he made hostile remarks about him during the race. The charge against Mr. Trump was based on a throwaway sentence they added about paying money to a porn actress. on an attempt to get Mr. Hegseth through, Mr. Trump has invested little to no personal resources on lawmakers. In private conversations, the president-elect’s advisors are also aware that Republican senators are attempting to show respect for Mr. Trump while disapproving of a choice that worries them. After Sheriff Chad Chronister withdrew from consideration to head the Drug Enforcement Administration and Matt Gaetz withdrew his name as attorney general, Mr. Hegseth, 44, may become the third Trump nominee to resign. There have been negative stories about Mr. Hegseth over the last two weeks. In 2017, it was disclosed that he had reached a settlement with a woman who had accused him of sexual assault. Mr. Trump told advisers at the time that he intended to continue with Mr. Hegseth, and he emphasized that the meeting was consensual.
However, Mr. Trump detests the contentious headlines, and they just got worse. According to a New York Times article, his mother informed her son that he had “abused” many women “in some way” over the years in an email she sent him in 2018 when he was going through a contentious divorce. Mr. Trump has expressed his displeasure with the email report. The New Yorker also published a damaging piece on Mr. Hegseth, claiming that his actions had led to his removal as the leader of two veterans’ organizations. According to a Tuesday NBC News story, Mr. Hegseth’s drinking caused concern among his Fox News coworkers. The extent to which Mr. Trump’s transition team investigated Mr. Hegseth’s background was unknown. People close to Mr. Hegseth believed that he needed to do well on Wednesday if he wanted to rescue himself. The Trump campaign is especially concerned about female Republican senators, notably Ms. Ernst, abandoning Mr. Hegseth.
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