Just a week ago, confirmation of President Trump's Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth seemed hopeless after a string of hits. But after launching a fierce campaign to defend himself, he now appears to be on the path to confirmation.
By last Monday, things weren't looking much better. Just as Hegseth began meeting with the senators charged with confirming him, four hit pieces were dropped one after the other. They were all based on anonymous complaints about a decade ago, but the cumulative effect has grown too large to ignore.
Republican senators began voicing doubts.
On Tuesday, Dec. 3, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) called the allegations “very disturbing.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) detects blood in water said Reporters said five to 10 Republicans opposed Hegseth's confirmation but were waiting for the right time to come forward.
In fact, a bipartisan group of senators on the Armed Services Committee (the committee charged with advancing Mr. Hegseth's nomination to the full Senate) expressed doubts about Mr. Hegseth, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) ) began to emerge as alternative candidates.
of wall street journal reported President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering appointing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to replace Hegseth. called Wednesday is “game day” for Hegseth. Other corporate news outlets followed suit.
Wednesday, Dec. 4, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) issued In a brief post to X after meeting with Hegseth, she thanked him for his service and said they had a “candid and thorough discussion.”
But Wednesday was also the day Hegseth started fighting back.
He began his morning telling reporters that he had no plans to withdraw his nomination, that he had spoken directly to President Trump, and that the president-elect told him he would be with him “forever.”
he also megyn kelly show He appeared on a podcast and detailed all the anonymous allegations leveled against him.
At the same time, Hegseth's former colleagues, friends and supporters began rallying behind him, with dozens going on record to dispute the allegations.
His mother, Penelope Hegseth, also appeared above fox & friends In defense of her son, she retracted an angry email she sent him in 2018 while he was in the middle of divorcing the mother of his three grandchildren, claiming she wrote the email in “a hurry” and sent an apology two hours later.
The next day, Hegseth continued to meet with senators and posted about the fight on social media. After meeting with each senator, he posted an X photo and publicly thanked them. Many of them responded in kind by posting photos with him and letting Trump supporters know where they stand.
Trump supporters simultaneously went after Ernst, with The Federalist reporting that Ernst called Trump multiple times and was “nagging” him to drop Hegseth. Ernst strongly denied being behind the campaign to oust Hegseth and said he would meet with Hegseth again, amid rumors that he himself wanted the job. But the damage had already been done.
Trump himself posted an op-ed defending Hegseth on his Truth social account.
And incoming national security adviser Rep. Mike Walz (R-Fla.) staunchly defended Hegseth on Fox News, saying President Trump “absolutely” supports him.
By early Friday morning, political journalist Mark Halperin reported “Changes Reflected in Evolving Views of Valuable Information Sources.”
“Earlier in the week, my sources made it clear that they thought Pete Hegseth was unlikely to be confirmed, or not at all. New developments have occurred in the past 24 hours, and the situation has changed. All that has changed,” he wrote in the newsletter.
Later that day, calls for Republican primary opponents in particular began to grow, with a leading candidate, Iowa Republican Attorney General Brenna Byrd, publishing an op-ed in Breitbart News calling for approval of all of President Trump's nominees. After the publication, Ernst's opposition began to crumble. .
Similarly, Trump supporters went after Mr. Graham, and Mr. Graham began to fend off his opponents. Other Republican senators who had initially expressed doubts about Mr. Hegseth, including Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) and Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), have also begun to back down.
By the end of Friday, Mr. Trump himself and numerous aides had expressed clear support for Mr. Hegseth.
Support for Hegseth continued to grow over the weekend.
As reported by Breitbart News, veterans have started registering their support and more than 100 Navy SEALs, Gold and Silver Stars marched in Washington, D.C., on the day of his confirmation hearing in January. It was signed by Starr's family and notable veterans. A separate open letter in support of Hegseth has also begun circulating, garnering hundreds of signatures.
On Monday morning, as Hegseth was scheduled to meet again with Graham and Ernst, a photo taken with Hegseth (then CEO of the United States Veterans Association) 10 years ago was published in the It reminded me of something. past.
By Monday afternoon, both Ernst and Graham had struck a different tune. Ms. Ernst issued a much more positive statement than her initial statement, calling their conversations “encouraging.”
“I will support Pete throughout this process and look forward to a fair hearing based on truth and not anonymous sources,” she said.
Mr. Graham described his meeting with Mr. Hegseth as “very positive, thorough and candid.”
By Tuesday, wall street journal Even the tone of who first reported Hegseth's death changed.
“Donald Trump's supporters… launched An intense pressure campaign to keep lawmakers behind the most controversial candidate for the next president. It seems to be working.” WSJ Reported.
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