Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s decide to steer the Protection Division, condemned the press for what he described as a “manufactured media takedown” of him.
“The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down. It’s a textbook manufactured media takedown,” the navy veteran wrote in an op-ed printed by the Wall Avenue Journal on Wednesday.
The previous Fox Information host has come below fireplace associated to allegations of sexual assault linked to an encounter he says was consensual, and former feedback he’s made about not permitting girls to be in fight roles within the navy. He is additionally confronted extreme ingesting allegations. The New Yorker reported Sunday that Hegseth was pressured to step down by two nonprofit advocacy teams he ran resulting from mismanagement of funds, sexual impropriety and extreme ingesting and NBC Information reported Tuesday that Hegseth’s ingesting fearful colleagues at Fox Information, the place he was a weekend host till earlier this month.
A New York Instances story printed final week reported that Hegseth’s mom despatched him an electronic mail in 2018 accusing him of “routinely mistreating women for years” and displaying a “lack of character.”
In a cellphone interview with The Instances, his mom, Penelope Hegseth, mentioned that she despatched a follow-up message on the time apologizing for her unique electronic mail, claiming she despatched the e-mail “in anger, with emotion” when her son and his spouse had been going by way of a divorce.
“It is not true. It has never been true,” she advised The Instances. “I know my son. He is a good father, husband,” she added, additionally saying the e-mail getting printed was “disgusting.”
Hegseth has maintained that he gained’t again down amid the backlash and strengthened that notion in his op-ed. He faces an uphill battle towards Senate affirmation.
Hegseth was set to satisfy with Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), James E. Risch (R-Idaho) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) on Tuesday. Simply 4 Republican senators can be wanted to aspect with all Senate Democrats and sink his nomination.
“I have never backed down from a fight and won’t back down from this one. I am grateful President-elect Trump chose me to lead the Defense Department, and I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing with our distinguished senators—not a show trial in the press,” Hegseth wrote.
