Of all the credibly accused rapists who could be nominated for Cabinet-level positions in Donald Trump’s administration, it does feel like Pete Hegseth is a bridge too far. Hegseth was accused of drugging and raping a married (conservative) woman at a conference in California in 2017. Even his mother called him an abuser of women. Not only that, but Hegseth is a drunk whose alcohol issues have led to huge issues at every job he’s ever had. And he’s a terrible businessman. And he’s a white nationalist and a fascist. Probably not the best pick for Secretary of Defense, right?
Well, Hegseth has been trying to push back on all of the stories of his horrible behavior and his rancid character this week. He’s in the middle of what Politico called an “all-out media blitz,” a blitz which includes his mommy calling senators and promising that he’ll behave as SecDef if confirmed. Hegseth’s allies think all of this is a smear campaign. Tell that to the woman he raped, the same woman who appears to be hellbent on torpedoing his nomination. Meanwhile, Trump is doing nothing to help his guy:
President-elect Trump isn’t working the phones for Pete Hegseth in his hour of need, leaving the embattled Department of Defense nominee to press his own case to skeptical senators, Axios has learned.
“I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” one senator told Axios about Hegseth’s nomination chances.
Why it matters: Trump is on path to lose his third nominee in two weeks, and this time he’s leaving his candidate out to dry.
GOP senators took Trump’s handling of the Matt Gaetz nomination as a sign he’s open to changing his mind — and he’s not that serious about fighting the Senate on rules and procedure just yet. Trump waged a phone campaign in November before telling Gaetz to drop out. Before he announced Gaetz, he demanded consideration of recess appointments from Senate GOP leader candidates.
The pipeline of backup names for defense secretary floated to the press — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — only further signals Trump could be open to switching things up again.
As Axios mentions, the name of “Meatball” Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth at DOD. Which would honestly be hilarious? It will be a sh-tshow no matter what, but DeSantis is an idiotic culture warrior who bans books and hates women and immigrants. He’s just another version of Pete Hegseth, only without the rape, the alcoholism and the militaristic white nationalism. Still, it’s all happening – Trump did the thing, he’s getting out of his federal charges, and he’s president again – and he still has no idea what to do and he’s about to lose his second major Cabinet nominee.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Hegseth’s IG.