Trump’s Defense pick Hegseth is under scrutiny. But he says he's 'not going anywhere'
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's nominee to lead the Pentagon, is struggling to build support for his confirmation following reports of excessive drinking and inappropriate behavior. Today, Hegseth told reporters at the Capitol that Trump wants him for the post.
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PETE HEGSETH: I spoke to the president this morning. He supports me fully. We're not going anywhere.
KELLY: NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh and NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik have been following developments, and there have been quite a few over these last few days. They're with me now. Hi, you two.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: Hi, there.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: David, you start because I know you have got some new reporting about Pete Hegseth. What have you learned?
FOLKENFLIK: Well, you know, we are reporting today that a former Fox colleague of Pete Hegseth says that he got handsy repeatedly at incidents when he was inebriated and once even groping her bottom at a Manhattan bar. She asked NPR not to be identified for fear of retribution.
KELLY: And when you put this to Pete Hegseth, what is he or his team saying in response?
FOLKENFLIK: So I corresponded with his attorney, Timothy Parlatore, who says it's a false claim. This follows, obviously, among other things, a report in The New Yorker that talked about an incident in 2017 in California in which he was accused of sexual assault. He paid that off, although he has now denied that that incident occurred. He said it was consensual. And there was a report last night from NBC that 10 current and former Fox colleagues alleged that he drank alcohol at a - routinely at a concerning level. Parlatore, Hegseth's attorney, told me that those claims have been thoroughly debunked, in his phrase, by a number of other Fox News employees, including Hegseth's former co-host, Will Cain, who have spoken out on the record, using their names to dispute that characterization of Hegseth.
I asked Fox about all this. It said that they did not receive complaints about the accusation of the groping in the bar and also had no knowledge of the California incident or the settlement to keep that private.
KELLY: Deirdre, let me bring you in here because what ultimately will matter is what the senators who will vote to confirm or not confirm Hegseth make of these reports, particularly Republican senators.
WALSH: Right. I mean, these reports are definitely coming up in these individual meetings that Hegseth has been having. So far, no Republican senator has publicly said they will vote no on Hegseth's nominations. Some of Trump's top allies in the Senate, like Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, are waving off the allegations, saying they are just that - allegations. But we are hearing about these individual one-on-one meetings. A source familiar with the process tells our colleague, Sue Davis, that Hegseth is getting, quote, "clear, direct and pointed questions and giving clear, direct and pointed answers." One of those senators sat down with him this afternoon - Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst. She served in the Army National Guard, and she said they had, quote, "a frank and thorough conversation."
The challenge, really, for Hegseth is a math one. I mean, right now, he can only afford to lose three Republican votes, and there are more than four Republicans who say they want more information. They want to see an FBI background check. They want to see Hegseth answer some tough questions now in their meetings, before there's a public hearing, because they expect Democrats will aggressively question Hegseth, and they don't want any surprises.
KELLY: David, we heard just a moment ago Hegseth himself speaking out, saying, I'm not going anywhere. And indeed, he does appear to be fighting to hang onto this nomination. How is he doing that?
FOLKENFLIK: Well, in terms of media, there are two things worth noting. His mother, Penelope Hegseth, went on "Fox & Friends" - the weekday version of the show he used to host, the place where he auditioned for the role - to defend him. She spoke to the audience, but also directly to its most important viewer, Donald Trump himself. And then he went on the podcast show of former Fox colleague Megyn Kelly - an interesting choice. She once accused Fox - the late Roger Ailes, Fox's former chairman, of sexually - trying to sexually assault her and has spoken out on that issue. But she also has swung hard to be a voice that's supportive of Donald Trump and, while posing some pretty tough questions to him, was also offering the warm embrace and pointing out how, in her words, unfair the media had been to him.
KELLY: Deirdre, you get last word just on this case, again, that Hegseth is going to have to make to senators who have to be convinced to confirm him.
WALSH: Right. He's got work to do. The chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, sat down with Hegseth and told reporters Hegseth committed to not drink while serving as defense secretary as a response to all these reports about excessive drinking. You know, he has some allies, but he still has to make the case to some other Senate Republicans, like Maine Republican Susan Collins, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. If there are any other reports that come out with concerns about his capacity to lead the department, Republicans I talked to say it's just going to make it that much harder. Beyond that, he has to keep Trump's support. Other outlets are reporting Trump may be looking at backups, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
KELLY: NPR's Deirdre Walsh and David Folkenflik. Thank you.
WALSH: Thank you.
FOLKENFLIK: You bet.
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