Trump Goes to the Mat for Pete Hegseth: ‘It Would Be a Tragedy’ if He Wasn’t Confirmed

Jennifer Bowers BahneyDec 16th, 2024, 12:37 pm
 

President-elect Donald Trump showed no signs of backing off support for defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, claiming that if the appointment didn’t work out, “It would be a tragedy.”

Trump spoke to the media and took reporters’ questions in Palm Beach, FL, late Monday morning.

“I think Pete Hegseth is making tremendous strides over the last week, He’s going to be great,” Trump said, continuing:

Look, he went to Princeton, he went to Harvard, he was a great student there. He really was — from the first day I met him, all he wanted to talk about was military. He’s just a military guy. I think it’s a natural. This was my idea. And, you know, Pete Hegseth gave up a lot, because he was going big places in Fox. Big, big places. A lot of money. And he didn’t even hesitate when I said, do you want to do this? He said, “Absolutely!” I said, you know, if it doesn’t work out you’ll never have the opportunity that you have right now in terms of the world of entertainment, entertainment business, whatever you want to call it. You’ll never have that opportunity again. In fact, it could be just the opposite, because it’s nasty out there.

He said, “I don’t care, I have to do it for my country.” He gave up a tremendous amount. if this doesn’t work, it would be a tragedy. Because, but that’s what he loves, he loves the military. I never talked about anything else, he’d talk about the military. He’d come to see me about a soldier that was unfairly treated and could I help? That’s the only think I virtually ever talked to him about.

Hegseth has been under fire for allegedly mismanaging veteran funds and for paying off a sexual assault accuser. He has received wide support among GOP power players on Capitol Hill.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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