President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, began his confirmation hearing on Tuesday and in the first question was asked to address the various scandals plaguing his nomination.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked the first question of Hegseth, saying, “I will begin my questioning of the nominee, Mr. Hegseth. You and your family have endured criticism of your nomination since it was announced in November. Let’s get into this allegation about sexual assault, inappropriate workplace behavior, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement during your time as a nonprofit executive. I should note that the majority of these have come from anonymous sources in liberal media publications. But I want to give you an opportunity to respond to these allegations, sir.”
“Mr. Chairman, Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for that opportunity. You are correct. We undertook this responsibility with an obligation to the troops to do right by them for our warfighters. And what became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us,” Hegseth replied, adding:
That was clear from moment one. And what we knew is that it wasn’t about me. Most of it was about President Donald Trump, who’s had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time. And he endured it incredibly, incredibly strong ways. So we in some ways knew it was coming.
We didn’t understand the depth of the dishonesty that would come with it. I saw from story after story in the media, left-wing media, we saw anonymous source after anonymous source based on second or third-hand accounts.
And time and time again, stories would come out and people would reach out to me and say, you know, I’ve spoken to this reporter about who you really are, and I was willing to go on the record. But they didn’t print my quote. They didn’t print any of my quotes or I’ve worked with you for ten years or I was your accountant or I was your chief operating officer or I was your board member or I was with you on 100 different tour stops for Concerned Veterans for America.
No one called me. No one asked about your conduct on the record or off the record. Instead, a small handful of anonymous sources were allowed to drive a smear campaign, an agenda about me. Because our left-wing media in America today, sadly doesn’t care about the truth. All they were out to do, Mr. Chairman, was to destroy me. And why did they want to destroy me? Because I’m a change agent and a threat to them.
Because Donald Trump was willing to choose me, to empower me to bring the Defense Department back to what it really should be, which is warfighting. So I’m willing to endure these attacks. But what I will do is stand up for the truth and for my reputation. False attacks, anonymous attacks, repeated ad nauseum, printed as nauseum as facts — we have provided to the committee.
Mr. Chairman, and I know you’re going to share on the record statement after on the record statement from people who have served with me, worked with me at Fox News, Concerned Vets, Vets for Freedom, you name it, from the top of the chain to the bottom, who will say, I treat them with respect, with kindness, with dignity. That’s men. That’s women. That’s Black. That’s white. That’s every background.
I have prided myself as a leader on respecting people, being professional. That is the balance of me. I’m not a perfect person. As has been acknowledged, saved by the grace of God by Jesus and Jenny.
I’m not a perfect person. But redemption is real. And God forged me in ways that I know I’m prepared for. And I’m honored by the people standing and sitting behind me. And I look forward to leading this Pentagon on behalf of the warfighters.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
