Hegseth hits out after reports Trump could replace him with DeSantis

Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for defence secretary says he nonetheless has the president-elect’s backing after reviews steered his nomination could also be in jeopardy over allegations of misconduct.

Trump is contemplating changing Pete Hegseth with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the BBC’s accomplice CBS Information reported, after Hegseth’s nomination got here beneath intense scrutiny.

Since Trump nominated the previous Fox Information host, questions on Hegseth’s {qualifications} have been raised – and a previous sexual assault allegation has surfaced.

Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing, and was by no means arrested or charged.

Hegseth, on Wednesday, didn’t tackle the DeSantis reviews straight and advised reporters that Trump had advised him to “hold going, hold preventing”.

He spent a lot of the day in closed-door conferences on Capitol Hill, in search of to quell issues and shore up help within the Senate.

“I spoke to the president this morning. (Trump) helps me absolutely. We’re not going anyplace,” Hegseth advised the BBC, stopping to talk outdoors the Senate chamber.

In a submit on X on Wednesday morning, Hegseth accused “the Left” of attempting to smear him with “pretend” tales.

However his nomination can be the topic of rising scrutiny by members of his personal social gathering – together with US senators who’ve the ability to substantiate or deny his appointment when requested to vote on it.

“I believe a few of these articles are very disturbing,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham advised CBS on Tuesday. “He clearly has an opportunity to defend himself right here, however some of these things goes to be tough.”

“The president will get the advantage of the doubt along with his nominees,” fellow Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota advised the BBC. “However we nonetheless have a task to play. We’ll ask him questions and we’ll go from there.”

Different Republicans signalled that they supported Hegseth regardless of the controversies.

Senator Rick Scott of Florida stated he believed Hegseth would obtain a Senate affirmation. He advised reporters that Hegseth was “any person that is clearly good, and he is any person that clearly needs to make adjustments.”

DeSantis, who was elected Florida governor in 2018, didn’t reply to a request for remark. A spokesperson for Trump declined to say whether or not DeSantis was into consideration for the submit.

DeSantis ran towards Trump within the Republican major, and earlier than dropping out, he was thought-about by some to be “Trump 2.0” – a Republican who might ship Trump’s populist agenda with out the bags.

The newest hypothesis – first reported by the Wall Avenue Journal – comes as Hegseth meets members of Congress this week to debate the job and drum up help.

Jasmine Crockett, a Home Democrat from Texas and vocal Trump critic, doesn’t view DeSantis as a more sensible choice.

Like Hegseth, Crockett says DeSantis will “proceed the tradition battle points” he battled as Florida governor that would hinder the army’s “downside with recruitment”.

A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Hegseth was an infantry platoon chief in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

In nominating Hegseth, who can be a former Fox Information TV host, Trump highlighted the previous soldier’s training, and his army expertise in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“With Pete on the helm, America’s enemies are on discover – our army will likely be nice once more, and America won’t ever again down,” Trump wrote.

However at the same time as a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 44-year-old doesn’t have the intensive expertise typical for the cupboard place. He additionally could be the second-youngest particular person to serve within the workplace.

As well as, since his nomination, a police report detailing accusations of an alleged sexual assault in 2017 has surfaced.

The lady quoted within the grievance stated that Hegseth, then a Fox host, took her cellphone and blocked the door to a resort room whereas at a Republican convention in California.

Hegseth denies any wrongdoing, saying the encounter was consensual.

In an interview printed Wednesday, conservative journalist Megyn Kelly requested Hegseth if he had assaulted a lady in Monterey, California, in 2017.

“Completely not,” he replied.

His mom, Penelope Hegseth, defended her son on the Fox and Associates programme on Wednesday morning after the New York Occasions printed particulars of an e mail she wrote to him in 2018, accusing him of routinely mistreating ladies.

“I wrote that in haste. I wrote that with deep feelings,” she stated of the e-mail, including that her son and his first spouse have been “going by a really tough divorce”.

“He is redeemed, forgiven, modified. I believe all of us are after seven years,” she stated.

Along with the accusations, a few of Hegseth’s previous feedback about how he would possibly change the defence division have additionally raised eyebrows.

On a current podcast, Hegseth stated the chairman of the joint chiefs of workers – the highest army chief within the US – must be fired, together with any army chief “concerned in any of the DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] woke [expletive]”.

He additionally has argued that ladies mustn’t serve in fight roles as a result of this follow had not made the army “more practical” or “extra deadly”.

“As we take into consideration his feedback that discuss DEI, it is one more disqualifying attribute that he has,” Consultant Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat on the Home Armed Providers Committee, advised the BBC.

There may be growing scepticism about Hegseth’s probabilities of getting sufficient votes to be confirmed by the Senate, CBS reviews.

No less than 4 Republican senators could be prone to vote towards him in the event that they voted right now, two sources advised the information outlet.

Republicans are anticipated to have a three-seat majority within the Senate, with 53 out of 100 senators, which should verify cabinet-level positions in Trump’s new crew. Dropping 4 Republican votes could be sufficient to sink Hegseth’s nomination, supplied Democrats and independents additionally vote towards him.

Hegseth will not be Trump’s first controversial nomination earlier than he returns to the White Home.

Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who Trump nominated for US legal professional basic, additionally confronted scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct – which he denied – that have been the topic of a congressional report.

Gaetz finally withdrew his nomination in late November, saying that the controversy towards him “was unfairly turning into a distraction” from the work of the incoming Trump administration.

Extra reporting by Brandon Drenon, who reported from the US Capitol.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher is smart of US politics in his twice weekly US Election Unspun publication. Readers within the UK can enroll right here. These outdoors the UK can enroll right here.