President-elect Donald Trump is considering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a potential replacement for Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth amid mounting pressure from the mainstream media, citing anonymous allegations on his personal conduct.
NBC News claimed that ten current and former Fox News employees have raised concerns about Hegseth’s drinking during his tenure as co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” — allegations strongly denied by Hegseth and many of his longtime colleagues, who blasted the allegations as “horsesh*t.”
“Everyone would be talking about it behind the scenes before he went on the air,” one unnamed former Fox employee reportedly told NBC News.
Will Cain, who co-hosted with Hegseth, and other former colleagues slammed the NBC News report.
“Your story is horsesh*t @NBCNews. Put my name on it. On the record. It’ll be your only on record source. Signed, The guy who sat next to him for 8 hours every week for five years starting at 6am,” Cain replied on social media.
Sara Carter, a Fox News contributor, also strongly defended Hegseth.
“I have never once seen this type of reported lies or behavior. He’s always been a gentleman and great guy!” she wrote.
A report from The Wall Street Journal said at least six Republican senators have expressed reservations about supporting Hegseth’s nomination. The next 48 hours are considered crucial to his nomination’s survival, according to people close to the president-elect’s team.
A Trump transition team spokesperson rejected all the allegations against Hegseth, and expressed confidence the nomination would pass.
“These disgusting allegations are completely unfounded and false, and anyone peddling these defamatory lies to score political cheap shots is sickening,” the spokesman told NBC News.
They joined a chorus of current and former coworkers of Hegseth on social media —
Current and former co-workers of Pete Hegseth are defending him saying the newest hoax the Democrats are spreading about him is complete bullshit pic.twitter.com/kbdKhGsSX4
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 4, 2024
DeSantis, who served as a Navy lawyer in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, was on an earlier list of potential defense secretary candidates. Trump has reportedly mentioned DeSantis’s name in casual conversations at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida club. The two appeared together Tuesday at a memorial service for fallen law enforcement officers in Palm Beach County.
The scrutiny of Hegseth intensified following the release of a 2017 Monterey Police Department investigation into a sexual assault allegation, which resulted in no charges.
Tim Parlatore, Hegseth’s lawyer, dismissed the media attacks on Hegseth’s conduct, first reported in The New Yorker, as “outlandish claims laundered through The New Yorker by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate.”
No Republican senators have publicly declared opposition to Hegseth’s nomination, and Trump continues to publicly support his nominee.