Former President Donald Trump expressed confidence in his decide to run the Pentagon, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, amid allegations of extreme ingesting and abuse of ladies.
“It appears to be like like Pete is doing nicely now,” Trump mentioned in an unique interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that can air Sunday.” “I imply, individuals had been slightly bit involved. He’s a younger man, with an incredible observe report really. He went to Princeton and went to Harvard. He was an excellent pupil at each. But he loves the navy and I feel individuals are beginning to see it so we’ll be engaged on his nomination together with plenty of others.”
Read extra on this story at NBCNews.com and watch Kristen Welker’s full interview on “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. ET or test native listings.
NBC News reported on Tuesday that Hegseth’s nomination was in peril with as many as six Senate Republicans not presently snug with supporting his bid, three GOP sources with direct data of the nomination course of mentioned, amid experiences highlighting considerations from colleagues over his ingesting and allegations of sexual misconduct.
NBC News reported Tuesday that Hegseth’s ingesting anxious his Fox News colleagues, 10 present and former staff of the community detailed. Two of these sources mentioned Hegseth smelled of alcohol earlier than he went on air greater than a dozen instances. A Trump transition spokesperson known as the claims “fully unfounded and false.”
Separately, Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran, was accused of sexually assaulting a lady in California in 2017, as a police report that was made public after Trump nominated him detailed. Hegseth mentioned the encounter was consensual, however he did pay the lady an undisclosed quantity as a part of a settlement.
This week, Hegseth took conferences on Capitol Hill in an effort to reassure senators — and the president-elect.
“Yes I do, I actually do,” Trump mentioned when Welker requested if he maintained confidence within the decide. “He’s a really good man. I’ve identified him by means of Fox, however I’ve identified him for a very long time. And he’s principally a navy man. Every time I speak to him, all he needs to speak about is the navy. He’s a navy man.”
Pressed on whether or not senators assured Trump that Hegseth will be confirmed, Trump mentioned “plenty of senators name me up saying he’s implausible.”
Welker famous that Trump himself doesn’t drink and has warned of the risks of extreme ingesting. She requested if he has considerations that his decide to supervise the U.S. navy has struggled with ingesting, in keeping with those that’ve labored with him.
“But I’ve spoken to folks that know him very nicely they usually say he doesn’t have a ingesting drawback,” Trump responded.