Categories: Politics

Pete Hegseth on the Hill for another day of meetings to rally support: ‘It’s been a wonderful process’

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, spent another day courting support from Republican senators on Capitol Hill and taking a few questions from reporters while he was at it. 

The military vet turned “Fox & Friends” co-host met with senators Rick Scott, R-Fla.; Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., Thursday. 

The meetings followed others Hegseth held earlier in the week with GOP senators, including Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who will be the next chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. 

Hegseth has been facing a mountain of criticism with accusations against him ranging from fiscal mismanagement to alcoholism to sexual misconduct. Nevertheless, Hegseth said Thursday while walking between meetings on Capitol Hill that Trump supports him “fully.”

TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS POTENTIAL DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT IF HEGSETH FALTERS

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, walks through the basement of the Capitol Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“I’ll tell you why I support him,” Scott told reporters after his meeting Thursday with Hegseth. “I admire people who are willing to put on the uniform and lead troops into battle. … When he goes in the Department of Defense, he will walk in with the mentality that he’s going to take care of our warfighters.”

Scott added that he will do “everything” he can to ensure Hegseth is confirmed.

“Pete Hegseth won’t back down from the media or the Pentagon bureaucracy,” Banks added after his own one-on-one meeting with the defense nominee. “And he won’t back down from China, Russia or Iran. He will help President Trump make America strong again.”

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, responds to reporters during a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Between meetings on Capitol Hill Thursday, Hegseth was pressed about his meeting a day earlier with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Ernst said earlier Thursday morning she was not yet willing to throw her support behind him.

ARE PETE HEGSETH’S TATTOOS SYMBOLS OF ‘CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM’?

“Productive meeting. Excellent,” Hegseth said of his meeting with Ernst as he was peppered with questions during his meeting with Rounds. 

“Constructive, candid. It was great,” Hegseth told a different reporter. 

When asked if the allegations about him were a topic of his conversation with Ernst, Hegseth declined to comment further, citing the private nature of their conversation.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, left, meets with Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, at the Capitol in Washington Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“It’s been a wonderful process,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday. “There’s an incredible amount of knowledge in the U.S. Senate — in the Senate Armed Services Committee — men and women who have studied these issues, have invested their lives in it. And as someone who is hoping to earn their support as the nominee for secretary of defense, I welcome that knowledge, I welcome that advice. And that’s why we’re here in all these meetings.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Hegseth’s meetings Thursday coincided with visits to Capitol Hill by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. The pair convened on Capitol Hill to discuss their new role running President-elect Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency with Thune.

Share

Recent Posts

Homeless man wins $1 million on lottery scratcher from California liquor store: report

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for April 20 Fox News Flash top headlines…

50 minutes ago

Trump shreds Biden, ‘Radical Left Lunatics’ in Easter message

President Donald Trump wished all Americans a happy Easter in two separate messages on Sunday,…

1 hour ago

Axed Pentagon aides claim their character was ‘slandered,’ little details were shared about leak investigation

Three Department of Defense aides who were dumped from the Pentagon this week amid concerns…

1 hour ago

Blue states rallied for illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses ahead of Trump’s REAL ID crackdown

Americans are scrambling to obtain a state-issued REAL ID in order to travel by plane…

1 hour ago

Police take down stabbing, arson suspect at Maryland’s National Harbor

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for April 20 Fox News Flash top headlines…

3 hours ago

Children’s author says his faith-based books are a way to fight the culture war: ‘Kids are on the frontline’

As Easter serves as a reminder of renewal and hope for many in the Christian…

3 hours ago