If it’s been a few days since you caught up on Pete Hegseth and his chances of being confirmed as Donald Trump’s defense secretary, you might still be laboring under the impression that the former Fox News host didn’t have a shot in the dark. After all, Hegseth has faced a torrent of seemingly disqualifying allegations against him, including a sexual assault accusation and a whistleblower claim of “being repeatedly intoxicated” on the job while serving as president Concerned Veterans for America, where he also allegedly “sexually pursued the organization’s female staffers.”* As an aside, Hegseth’s own mother once told him via email that he “abused” women and should “take an honest look” at himself.**
Then, there was the Joni Ernst factor. Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, is a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor, and had initially said Hegseth would “have his work cut out for him” to get confirmed, telling Fox News last week that she was definitely not yet a “yes.” But fast-forward a few days, and the GOP lawmaker appears to have changed her tune, saying that she’d had an “encouraging” follow-up conservation with the nominee and suggesting—as colleague Lindsey Graham has said outright—that the accusations against him don’t count unless the accusers publicly out themselves. “As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources,” she said.
Why the sudden change of heart? It may or may not have to do with the relentless bullying and threats Ernst was subject to. Per The New York Times:
Acknowledging that Hegseth’s fate had not been looking good until Team Trump went after Ernst, Bannon told the Times, “At 4 p.m. on Thursday, Pete’s nomination hung by a thread. That’s when the grass roots kicked in hard. MAGA wants a combat vet who will take on the woke and take on the war profiteers.”
Trump will enjoy a 53-47 GOP majority in the Senate when confirmation hearings take place early next year and is surely encouraged that Ernst has very publicly changed her stance. She’s not the only senator to do so: Last week, Graham told CBS News that some of the reports detailing accusations against Hegseth were “very disturbing” and “going to be difficult” to defend against. Then, one day later, he declared on Fox: “I’ve known Pete for a long time. I served with him in Afghanistan. The people over there said nothing but great things about him. The allegations against Pete are all anonymous sources. I am not gonna make any decision based on an anonymous source. If you’re not willing to raise your hand under oath and make the accusation, it doesn’t count. I’ve heard everything about all these people—none of it counts.” On Tuesday, Graham told CNN Hegseth is “in pretty good shape.”
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*Hegseth has denied engaging in sexual misconduct and was not charged following an investigation; he later paid the accuser, who was required to sign a nondisclosure agreement. In response to The New Yorker’s reporting on the whistleblower complaint, Hegseth’s lawyer sent a statement that read: “We’re not going to comment on outlandish claims laundered through The New Yorker by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth’s. Get back to us when you try your first attempt at actual journalism.”
**Hegseth’s mother told The New York Times she “sent her son an immediate follow-up email at the time apologizing for what she had written.” She later defended her son on Fox News.
