Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing was ‘awful’ TV

On January 15, 2025By Littum

And just like that, we’re back in Trump World again.

Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday was partisan in the extreme, predictable as a sunrise, and absolutely unwatchable.

Donald Trump has nominated the veteran and former Fox News host to be his defense secretary, a nomination that has come under fire because of Hegseth’s lack of leadership experience as well as his personal behavior, including allegations of excessive drinking and sexual assault. (He has both denied the abuse and said he is now a changed man — which, as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly pointed out during his questioning, is something of a contradiction).

Hegseth blamed the usual enemy: the media

“All in all, a pretty biased performance for a role that hasn’t always been that way,” CNN’s Dana Bash said afterward. John Roberts was more specific on Fox News: “Obviously, he came in for very friendly questions from the Republicans on the committee. He came in for a lot of tense questions from most of the Democrats that are on the committee. Some of them seemed very confrontational.”

You don’t say. Basically, the Democrats asked questions like when did you stop beating your wife, while the Republicans asked him why he is so unusually well qualified for the job. It is, of course, disingenuous to pretend that Trump and Hegseth didn’t set out to make this a partisan affair. As Claire McCaskill, the former U.S. senator and MSNBC contributor, pointed out, Hegseth defied custom by refusing to meet with Democrats on the committee except for the ranking member.

“It’s just mind-boggling,” she said, adding, “They’re asking for this to be a partisan military by the way they’ve conducted this confirmation process, and it’s very depressing.”

Early on, Hegseth and the Republicans on the committee settled on a well-worn defense, one they often find useful for anything (in fairness, as Democrats do): Blame the media.

“Our left-wing media in America today is sadly indifferent to the truth,” Hegseth said. This is likely due to reports of his alleged excessive drinking on the job, as well as alleged sexual misconduct, but also his general comments about women in the military. And presumably he is more forgiving of media outlets that have been less aggressive in their pursuit of, well, the truth of the allegations.

If there’s one enemy bigger than the media, it’s the “woke” agenda infected by President Joe Biden’s military — or so Hegseth and Republicans argued. This led to questions like – I’m not making this up – “How many genders are there?” And how many push-ups can Hegseth do.

Mark Kelly said Hegseth ‘wasn’t honest with us’

The whole thing took 4 hours and 15 minutes, so it’s impossible to recount all the craziest moments. Let’s settle for a few, such as Kelly making specific allegations of misconduct and Hegseth each responding with “Anonymous smear” as if invoking the Fifth Amendment to something. “It’s clear to me that you’re not being honest with us or the American people because you know the truth would disqualify you from getting the job,” Kelly said.

Or Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who interrupted Hegseth when he brought up Trump for the eighth time: “I see, you’ve done your geek thing.” Or Sen. Elizabeth Warren, on Hegseth’s apparently recent change of heart about women serving in the military, “I’ve heard of deathbed conversions, but this is the first time I’ve heard of a nomination conversion.”

Late. Tim Kaine presses Hegseth on assault charges

Senator Tim Kaine used his time during Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing to question the nominee about allegations of abuse.

Or Sen. Tim Kaine, who asked Hegseth if drinking on the job or assaulting women would be disqualifying for the job, and Hegseth refused to answer — and then Sen. Markwayne Mullin asked Democrats if they’d ever seen any senators come to the floor drunk at night to vote on a bill.

Late. Gary Peters asked Hegseth how much innovation he was responsible for. Fox News’ Roberts must have liked Hegseth’s response, because after the hearing he played a clip and said with a laugh, “Peters realized the hand grenade went up in his face and he quickly got out of it and turned to something else.”

When will the Senate vote on Pete Hegseth?

And so it went, and it went and went. Hegseth’s confirmation is seen as a test of Trump’s influence over Senate Republicans to push through his more, er, unconventional nominees. The committee is expected to vote on whether the nomination should be brought forward to the full Senate on Monday.

If Tuesday is any indication, his influence is complete, but there are some wild times ahead. In other words, stay tuned.

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