Trump lines up Plan B lackey as Hegseth nomination sinks
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Looks like misogynist drunk Pete Hegseth is in danger of being BORKED (i.e. justly rejected by a bipartisan Senate majority should his nomination proceed) in the light of yet more revelations of his misbehavior:
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, is in peril as Senate Republicans grow increasingly concerned over allegations of drinking and reports about his treatment of women.
As many as six Senate Republicans, perhaps more, are currently not comfortable supporting Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon as new revelations about his past continue to be made public, three Republican sources with direct knowledge of his nomination process said. Given Republicans’ slim Senate majority in the next Congress, Hegseth, a former Fox News host, can afford to lose only three GOP votes, assuming all Democrats vote against him.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who is on the Armed Services Committee, would not commit to support Hegseth’s nomination and said she planned to grill him about news accounts of allegations of alcohol abuse, mistreatment of woman and financial mismanagement.
“We’re just going to have a really frank and thorough conversation,” Ernst said.
Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in California in 2017, according to a police report made public after Trump announced he would nominate him for defense secretary. Hegseth, who was not charged, denied the woman’s allegations, saying the encounter was consensual, although he did pay an undisclosed amount as part of a settlement with her.
Separately, NBC News reported Tuesday that Hegseth’s drinking concerned his colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees. Two of them said Hegseth smelled of alcohol before he went on air on more than a dozen occasions. Hegseth did not respond when he was asked for comment on those allegations Tuesday evening at the Capitol.
In the Nixonian tradition, Trump is sizing up a substitute troll:
President-elect Donald Trump is considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a possible replacement for Pete Hegseth, his pick to run the Pentagon, according to people familiar with the discussions, amid Republican senators’ concerns over mounting allegations about the former Fox News host’s personal life.
Picking DeSantis, a 2024 GOP primary rival for the presidency, would amount to a stunning turn for Trump. But he would also find in the governor a well-known conservative with a service record who shares Trump’s—and Hegseth’s—view on culling what they see as “woke” policies in the military.
Trump allies increasingly think Hegseth may not survive further scrutiny, according to people close to the president-elect’s team, which considers the next 48 hours to be crucial to his fate.
As much as I hate DeSantis…this would still be a better outcome. No Trump nominee is going to be good on the merits, and Hegseth’s behavior really should be disqualifying even in this debased age.