Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s struggling defense secretary nominee, has said he will “never back down” amid rumors that the president-elect is considering replacing him with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. It won’t go down,” he shared an enthusiastic post.
“I’m not doing this for the warmongers, I’m doing this for the militants. The left is afraid of the disruptors and the changers. They’re afraid of (Donald Trump) and they’re afraid of me. , they fill it with fake anonymous sources and BS articles. They don’t want the truth. Our warriors will never back down, and neither will I,” Hegseth said Wednesday morning. I wrote this.
The post went viral following reports Tuesday night that President Trump may trade Hegseth for DeSantis. One source told NBC News that DeSantis is “very much in contention,” while another said, “Trump has talked to the governor and wants the governor to do it.” The Wall Street Journal and CBS News also reported the rumor, citing anonymous sources.
Despite the rumors, Hegseth, 44, told reporters Wednesday morning that Trump encouraged her to “keep fighting.”
“This morning I spoke to the president-elect and he said, keep going, keep fighting,” he said. “Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter.”
Late Wednesday, Hegseth was interviewed by Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM and slammed the criticism he has received.
“We’re going to fight like hell. There’s no reason to retreat. Why would we retreat?” Hegseth said.
Asked whether he was being “Kavanaugh-ized,” referring to the 2018 nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the backlash that followed, Hegseth emphasized that people are making up things about him.
But he said, “Mr. Kavanaugh stood up, fought, and won. I hope the Republican Party learns that lesson.”
Hegseth has been embroiled in controversy ever since it was named. Earlier this week, The New Yorker reported on a whistleblower complaint that said he had been removed from leadership roles at two veterans organizations following allegations of financial mismanagement, active drinking and sexist behavior.
“I’m not going to dignify that in my response,” the former Fox News host told reporters Tuesday about whether he had an alcohol problem.
A 2018 email from his mother, Penelope Hegseth, obtained by The New York Times last week accuses her son of routinely abusing women and displaying a lack of decency. It became a hot topic.
“You are an abuser of women. This is the ugly truth and I have no respect for men who disrespect, lie, cheat, sleep over and take advantage of women for their own power and ego,” she said. I wrote it.
In an interview with Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, Penelope Hegseth retracted her comments from six years ago and appealed to Hegseth’s supporters to stand by her side.
“We all believe in him. We truly believe he’s not the man he was seven years ago. I’m not that mom, so I’m going to ask people today to hear that story and the truth of it.” I hope you do,” she told viewers.
She continued: “I came here to tell the truth. To tell the truth to the American people, and to tell the truth to the senators on the Hill, especially the women senators. Don’t listen to what the media says. What Pete says. I sincerely hope you will listen to it.”
In a 2018 email, Penelope emphasized that she and her son were “different from who we are today.”
“Pete and his wife were going through a difficult divorce and it was a very emotional time. I think many people across the country understand how difficult a divorce can be for a family. We say a lot of things, but I was emotional as a parent and wrote it in a hurry,” she explained.
She added: “Pete and I are both very passionate people. I wrote that out of love and then retracted it two hours later with an apology and no one saw it. It was a difficult time. ”
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance also defended Hegseth on Wednesday morning, referring to Penelope Hegseth’s appearance on Fox & Friends and saying, “The media never talks about an apology because they’re trying to destroy him. Don’t tell me the truth.” At the time of publication, multiple news outlets were reporting on her apology.
