The GOP is standing firmly behind Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host and veteran tapped by President-elect Donald Trump for Secretary of Defense, despite a wave of allegations detailing misconduct and financial mismanagement.
A recent exposé by The New Yorker alleges that Hegseth resigned from leadership roles at two nonprofit organizations due to such controversies.
The report accuses Hegseth of appearing intoxicated at work events—on occasion to the point of needing assistance—and claims he took his team to a strip club. It further details allegations that he yelled inflammatory rhetoric, such as “kill all Muslims” in 2015, pursued female staffers while married, and raised red flags among donors about improper use of funds. Hegseth’s attorney has dismissed the claims as “outlandish” and attributed them to “a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate.”
Despite these accusations, Hegseth’s supporters have been quick to defend him. Donald Trump Jr. labeled the article a “hit piece” in a social media post, asserting, “They’ll lie, cheat, and steal to try to sink my father’s nominees. The corporate media truly is the #EnemyOfThePeople!”
Right-wing outlet Breitbart preemptively criticized the report, calling it a “massive hit piece” based on “decade-old allegations.” Its headline read: “Mainstream Media Duped by Decade-Old Jealous Screed from Former Pete Hegseth Coworker.”
On social media, some compared the allegations to past controversies involving conservative figures. “Remember what the left tried to do to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh,” one user wrote on Truth Social. “Here we go again with Pete Hegseth.”
Critics of the article emphasize the age of the accusations, with one post on X (formerly Twitter) remarking, “Their source was a jealous person from 2014. TEN years ago. They need to seek help.”
This isn’t the first controversy surrounding Hegseth since his nomination. In late November, an investigative police report revealed a 2017 sexual assault allegation against him. Though Hegseth settled the case privately, he has denied any wrongdoing, with his lawyer describing the settlement as a case of “successful extortion.”
Republican lawmakers have largely shrugged off the allegations. “A lot of this stuff was years ago,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told Fox Business. “Pete has done everything he possibly can to address it … The Democrats are going to do everything they can to destroy probably one of the better people that we’ve ever had—as a possible appointee of Secretary of Defense.”
For now, Hegseth continues to enjoy staunch GOP backing, with many in his party dismissing the allegations as politically motivated.
