Former Fox News host and commentator Pete Hegseth is using the weapon he knows best to fight for his troubled nomination to be secretary of defense: the media.
Hegseth is under fire for a series of revelations about his past. These include allegations of rape, sexual assault, public drunkenness, and financial improprieties at a conservative nonprofit for veterans.
On Wednesday, Hegseth wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (which is owned by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch) arguing that he would not back down. “The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down,” he wrote, adding, “They provide no evidence, no names, and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf.”
In fact, one of the most prominent sources of information about Hegseth is a letter his own mother, Penelope Hegseth, wrote describing him as an abuser of women. She has admitted that she wrote the letter but has now said she doesn’t hold that view of her son.
