Fox News reporter Chad Pergram filed a segment Monday evening about some challenging confirmation hearings looming for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominations and did not shy away from problematic conduct allegations surrounding former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who is Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense.
Hegseth is the former co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend and has received a raft of ugly reports surrounding an investigation into an alleged sexual assault, as well as an unearthed private email from his mother that harshly criticized her son’s character following the ending of one of his three marriages. The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer recently published a damning expose alleging all sorts of over-the-top claims, including reported details of drunken behavior while overseeing a Veteran’s rights organization he was working for at the time.
While Fox News opinion programs have largely ignored these significant allegations, the cable news ratings giant’s news side is not afforded such a luxury. This was on full display during Special Report as Pergram shared details of several nominees visiting with US Senators in advance of confirmation hearings.
“It’s believed that [Pam] Bondi is easier to confirm than Gaetz, but Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth could be a problem. He faces questions about his personal conduct,” Pergram noted, before airing sound of Hegseth addressing a press gaggle in the halls of the Capitol building.
“We are talking with every senator that wants to talk to us, and the conversations we have with senators, of course, are going to remain private,” Hegseth is seen saying.
CBS News’ Nikole Killion is then shown asking the Secretary of Defense nominee, “When you were at Concerned Veterans for America were you ever drunk while traveling on the job?”
Hegseth replies, “I won’t dignify that with a response.”
You can see the full exchange posted on social media below:
Watch above via Fox News.
