Report: Thune Told Trump He Believes Pete Hegseth has Enough Votes for Defense Secretary Confirmation
These stories were dutifully amplified by the party’s communications team, the mainstream media, and Hegseth’s nomination appeared to be on life support.
A Sunday report from CBS News claimed that, according to three sources, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) privately told President-elect Donald Trump “he believes Pete Hegseth will have the votes to be confirmed as Secretary of Defense.”
When the network reached out to Thune’s office for a comment, a spokesman said, “Two things we don’t discuss publicly: Whip counts and private conversations with the president.”
Asked about this report during an appearance on CBS Sunday morning show “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Thune was noncommittal. He said, “I think these are nominees who are new enough, they’ve been going around and conducting their meetings, which I think, frankly, have gone very well, but they still have to make their case in front of the committee. And, you know, we don’t know all the information about some of these nominees.”
Trump’s announcement of Hegseth as the nominee on Nov. 12 was met with shock by Democratic lawmakers and even by some on the Right side of the aisle. Known primarily for his years as the popular weekend co-host of Fox News’ morning show, “Fox & Friends,” he was considered unqualified to lead the Pentagon.
But Hegseth actually has a very impressive resume. He served in the military for 20 years, during which he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also received two bronze star medals, which the military awards to soldiers who have distinguished themselves “by heroic or meritorious achievement or service … while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.”
Hegseth also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University. During his time at Fox, he was a strong advocate for the veteran community.
Unfortunately, days after Hegseth’s nomination, reports emerged that a woman, “Jane Doe,” had accused Hegseth of sexual assault following an incident that occurred in a Monterey, California, hotel room in 2017. Although Hegseth was not charged of any crime, he paid the woman an undisclosed sum of money to remain quiet.
NEW: Pete Hegseth is on Capitol hill meeting with senators, talking about getting confirmation votes…
But a reporter barges in: "Did you s*xually assault a woman in California?"
Hegseth replies: "That was fully investigated, and I was COMPLETELY CLEARED." pic.twitter.com/xqdLmMhKsB
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 21, 2024
The legacy media, which appears to believe it is better qualified than the Senate to vet cabinet nominees, eagerly ran with the story.
Next, NBC News reported that Hegseth “drank in ways that concerned his colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees who spoke with NBC News.” The article stated:
Two of those people said that on more than a dozen occasions during Hegseth’s time as a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” which began in 2017, they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air. Those same two people, plus another, said that during his time there he appeared on television after they’d heard him talk about being hungover as he was getting ready or on set.
It was a total hit piece that rivaled the Democrats’ slander campaign against then-Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. The story was dutifully amplified by the party’s communications team, the mainstream media, and Hegseth’s nomination appeared to be on life support.
Pete Hegseth debunks slanderous NBC hit piece alleging he has a “drinking problem.”
“I’ve never had a drinking problem.”
“I’m a very different person than I was ten years ago. But I’m also the right guy to be in the Pentagon to understand what our young warfighters are going… pic.twitter.com/5hMuctToQf
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 4, 2024
He also faced opposition from Republican Sen. Joni Ernst (IA), who initially withheld her support from Hegseth amid widespread speculation that she sought the nomination herself. However, following the threat of a primary challenge during her 2026 reelection bid, Ernst has since softened her opposition to Hegseth.
Subsequent attempts to discredit Hegseth have largely fallen flat. For instance, after he claimed he was accepted to West Point in 1999, the left-leaning website ProPublica contacted the academy’s public affairs office for confirmation. When two representatives stated otherwise, ProPublica prepared to publish a story accusing Hegseth of lying. However, Hegseth preemptively released a copy of his West Point acceptance letter, prompting ProPublica to kill the story.
1/ Here’s a story about how journalism works.
Spoiler Alert: This is how we decide *not* to publish.
We were recently looking at Pete Hegesth’s different statements over the years about West Point, where he has said he was admitted.
First stop: West Point. https://t.co/TceZdglkmL
— Jesse Eisinger (@eisingerj) December 11, 2024
What the Hell is Happening at West Point?
If you’re not up to speed with the recent SNAFU at West Point around @PeteHegseth's nomination, it’s worth noting. Last Wednesday, ProPublica was on the verge of publishing a bombshell report contradicting Hegseth’s claim that he had… pic.twitter.com/JCnZRHzJnA
— The Real Mike Rowe (@mikeroweworks) December 14, 2024
But Trump, who has been the target of numerous media firestorms himself, stood firmly behind Hegseth and urged him to fight. Which he did.
Pete Hegseth handles the media like a BOSS 💥💥💥💥
“This will not be a process tried in the media. I don’t answer to anyone in this group. None of you. Not to that camera at all.
I answer to President Trump, who received 76 million votes and a mandate for change. I answer to… pic.twitter.com/QxFV4viiXB
— Leah Rain ✝️🇺🇸🎸🏝️ (@LeahRain77) December 6, 2024
If CBS News’s sources are accurate, it seems Hegseth’s determination to stay the course may have paid off. According to CBS, his confirmation hearing is set for January 14. A successful confirmation would mark a significant blow to the legacy media, which is increasingly losing credibility.
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
I do hope so, the military has to get the DIE Cultural Marxism out of the Brass and ranks.
NBC’s attacks on Pete Hegseth makes it clear he has merit.
Dem shill outlets should be examined, pull their plugs.
The vile Dhimmi-crats’/Deep State’s/leftist media’s/D.C. Swamp’s collective, vicious, greasy and underhanded attempts to “Kavanaugh” Hesgeth’s nomination only serve to underscore his manifest fitness for the job, and, the Augean Stables-like task that awaits him, in cleaning up and rooting out the rampant leftist subversion and corruption that the Dhimmi-crats’ have sown in DoD and in our armed forces branches.
Comment below was in reply to yours.
Revenge isn’t ours to pursue, but I certainly would love to see this done to each and every Democrat in office. The left set the rules, so game on!
Obama got rid of 5000 officers in his first term. You know, those who didn’t fit his “destruction” plans. The bench was definitely depleted.
Funny how, when the sainted narcissist-incompete-dunce, Obama, put alien kids in cages, spies on journalists, fired thousands of military officers, facilitated the trafficking of firearms to Mexican drug cartels, quashed a DEA investigation into Hezb’allah’s narcotics peddling operations, etc., the perennially and dutifully worshipful Dhimmi-crat media shills/lapdogs/trained seals/stenographers couldn’t find a word of opprobrium to print or to utter.
I think the ‘Rats are saving their resources for the real fight: the AG, DoJ Civil Rights head, and the FBI head. With those three appointments Trump not only stops new treachery as well as starts to target both bureaucrats and state elections.
Notice how quiet Ernst and Graham got after the backlash?
They thought this was just going to be RINO business as usual, that they could find some stupid fig leaf to vote against him and not suffer consequences.
Conservatives are done with this nonsense.
Believes? there should e no question about it!
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