Trump Team Reportedly Floating Alternatives to Pete Hegseth in Case President-Elect Ditches Him: ‘A Real Possibility’
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President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has reportedly been drafting a list of alternative nominees for secretary of defense in case Trump decides to ditch the current nominee, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth.
According to Vanity Fair, which spoke to two unnamed Republican sources “close to Trump,” the president-elect’s transition team has been “quietly preparing a list of alternative defense secretary candidates should Trump abandon Hegseth,” following news of a 2017 sexual assault allegation.
“It’s becoming a real possibility,” claimed one of the sources. The other source said, “People are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest.”
Shortly after Trump announced his decision to nominate Hegseth for secretary of defense this month, the Trump transition team was informed about a 2020 payment Hegseth reportedly made to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a hotel and spa in 2017.
In a statement, Hegseth’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore insisted, “Mr. Hegseth is completely innocent. Not only did she take advantage of him, but we believe she then extorted him knowing that at the height of the #MeToo movement the mere public allegation would likely result in his immediate termination from Fox News.”
The New York Times reported last week that Trump had “not moved off supporting Mr. Hegseth, despite claims that his team was reassessing the pick, according to several people close to the incoming president.”
Even before the sexual assault allegation was made public, Hegseth’s nomination shocked Republicans in the Senate, whose reactions ranged from “Who?” to “I’d have to think about it.”
