‘That Is Defamation!’ Pete Hegseth’s Fox & Friends Co-Hosts Come To His Defense, Torch ‘White Supremacist’ Accusations
Pete Hegseth’s Fox & Friends Weekend colleagues jumped to his defense on Saturday following backlash to his nomination for Secretary of Defense from President-elect Donald Trump.
Hegseth was not at his usual spot on the Fox & Friends couch on Saturday with Joey Jones stepping into replace him while he readies for a coming confirmation process.
“I’m going to be honest, I’m sad,” Will Cain said, calling the show hosted by himself, Hegseth, and Rachel Campos-Duffy “lightning in a bottle.”
They later turned to criticism of Hegseth over past comments and more. Former NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill said this week to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that Hegseth is a “white supremacist,” something Hayes had to immediately throw a disclaimer on by saying Hegseth would “strenuously deny” he’s a white supremacist.”
“If he was a white supremacist, I think we’d know and I hope that he has the time, which I’m sure he doesn’t because he’s preparing for his hearings and everything before the Senate, that woman deserves to be sued. That is defamation,” Campos-Duffy said after watching the clip of Ifill.
“No doubt about it,” Cain added.
Cain described Hegseth as one of the people he knows best in life and launched into a lengthy defense dismissing critics pointing to DEI criticisms and religious tattoos as indicators of prejudice.
Cain said:
“This is one of the people who I feel like I know best in my life who I would vouch for their character. That being said, we do know him best as some people in this world. That ridiculous opinion is based upon what she accuses him of being against: DEI [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion]. So merit is now racist is what she’s suggesting. And the fact that he has tattoos. Now, look, if he was ashamed or thought he statues is controversial, I would suggest to you he wouldn’t take his shirt off and swim with 100 Navy SEALs on live television every year. He talks about his tattoos. He has a Jerusalem Cross on his chest. He has a ‘God wills it’ Latin tattoo on his bicep. And this has been something that they’re also pointing out, according to Associated Press report. Pete’s talked about this, so it’s not news to a lot of people that already know this. He was kicked off National Guard duty for protecting Joe Biden’s inauguration because an email came in, a complaint was lodged at the time, and now the Associated Press has the email where a fellow Guard member who was the unit security manager and on an anti-terrorism team at the time shared with the AP an email he sent a unit’s leadership flagging a tattoo that read ‘Deus vult,’ that’s ‘God wills it,’ It’s been used by white supremacists concerned it was an indication of an insider threat. This is a saying, by the way. It goes back to 1096. I mean, I read the email. It’s one man’s internet rabbit hole theory.”
Cain called the attacks on his friend “desperate” and again agreed it was “grounds for defamation.”
Jones argued even Hegseth’s military service is being seen suspiciously by his critics.
“The Democrat Party would have you believe that serving in the military is some sort of indicator that you are, you know, alt right, far right, that you hate the country because you hate the idea of DEI, which attacks the meritocracy of the military,” he said. “The one thing I do know about Pete Hegseth is if he’s confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he will not seek retribution with his National Guard unit or with that person. He’ll treat everyone the exact same and give them all an opportunity to be the best fighting force our country’s ever seen.”
Hegseth took to X on Saturday to push back on his critics amid the racism accusations and news of a years-old sexual assault investigation — which never led to any charges — and he also shared some of the defenses from his colleagues.
Watch above via Fox News.
