With former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s appointment as defense secretary suddenly in doubt amid a bevy of startling stories detailing his alleged sexual misconduct, boorish behavior and financial malfeasance, the right-wing network he called home for nearly a decade is doing what it typically does in these instances.
That is, it’s hushing up.
Meanwhile, another conservative cable channel that has long sought to court favor with MAGA by running to the right of Fox News is openly calling on President-elect Donald Trump to ditch Hegseth’s nomination because the ex-Fox star simply “can’t” lead the Pentagon amid the growing scandals.
“This secretary of defense thing is not going to happen. It just can’t, not after what we’re learning about,” Newsmax host Greg Kelly declared on his primetime show Monday night.
Having already been a controversial pick when Trump nominated him last month, especially after it was revealed he paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault, Hegseth has suddenly found his confirmation in serious peril following two new bombshell articles.
On Friday, The New York Times reported that Hegseth’s own mother had once denounced him for “mistreating women” over the years. While the then-Fox & Friends Weekend host was in the middle of a divorce from his second wife after having an affair with a Fox News producer (who would become his third wife), Penelope Hegseth emailed her son in 2018 and railed against his behavior.
“I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth,” she wrote. Mrs. Hegseth told the Times she regretted sending the email and later apologized to her son.
The New Yorker on Sunday followed up with an in-depth investigation into Hegseth’s tenure leading two veterans’ groups. The story, which included new details about Hegseth’s alleged drunken and sexist behavior, as well as claims that he financially mismanaged the two organizations he led, was largely sourced to a “whistleblower report” and other accounts submitted by former employees of the veteran advocacy non-profits.
As CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter first reported on Tuesday, though Hegseth’s allies have used other MAGA media outlets to mount a defense against these allegations, Fox News has largely steered clear of them. According to transcript searches via media monitoring services TVEyes and Grabien, Fox News has very briefly covered the accusations laid out in The New York Times and New Yorker stories this week. While Hegseth’s name has been mentioned occasionally on-air, it has generally been to report that he is meeting with senators to generate support for his nomination.
Through Tuesday afternoon, the only instance of the network directly reporting on-air about the latest allegations occurred on Tuesday’s early-morning program Fox & Friends First.
“The New Yorker reports Pete Hegseth was pushed out of two groups he ran because of mismanagement of funds, sexual impropriety, and intoxicated behavior,” reporter Madeline Rivera said before airing a clip of Hegseth being confronted on Capitol Hill by reporters.
The previous evening, on the network’s flagship “hard news” program Special Report, correspondent Chad Pergram said that Hegseth “faces problems about his personal conduct” and that it “could be a problem” for his confirmation. After airing a video of Hegseth being asked if he was “ever drunk while traveling on the job,” Pergram didn’t provide any additional context about the controversies surrounding his former colleague.
Interviewing Trump spokesperson Jason Miller on Tuesday morning, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade somewhat broached the subject of the troubling accusations against Hegseth — but mostly to express sympathy for his “buddy” while framing the claims of sexual misconduct and crude behavior as merely “personal attacks.”
“I think the volume of some of the personal attacks on some of your nominees is stunning, including our buddy Pete Hegseth, who wrote a book about the Pentagon and served 20 years in the military. He’s been decorated and chose the infantry after an Ivy League education,” Kilmeade stated. He did not offer any additional context to the controversy surrounding Hegseth.
A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in response to Stelter, a spokesperson declined to say whether the network had editorially decided not to cover the Hegseth allegations. Additionally, the spokesperson stated Fox News was not previously made aware of the emails and reports cited in the Times and New Yorker.
While, for now, Fox News is largely ignoring the unflattering stories about its one-time star — a tactic it has employed regularly in the past — Newsmax has come out swinging against Hegseth.
“Life is long, and Pete Hegseth is a talented guy with a lot to offer. But this secretary of defense thing is not going to happen. It just can’t, not after what we’re learning about,” Kelly said at the top of his show Monday.
After heaping praise on Hegseth for his combat record, Kelly noted that the former Fox host is just 44 years old and “there is time for Pete to make a big, valuable contribution to this country” in the future.
“But now is not the time. I’m sorry,” he added. “The stakes are way too high now. Now, Donald Trump likes Pete Hegseth, respects Pete Hegseth, and that’s amazing. But there are things about Pete Hegseth that he has got to deal with.
After referencing the email from Hegseth’s mom, Kelly noted that the “country needs some time to absorb this” and that Hegseth “can make a contribution” but “not right now.” In a later interview with former Trump administration official Ric Grenell, Kelly criticized Hegseth for not being honest with the incoming president.
“President Trump also probably deserved to know about some of these matters before he put the name forward,” the host said. “And my understanding is that Pete Hegseth had the opportunity… and declined to offer that.”
Kelly, by the way, is the same Newsmax host that floated the idea of Matt Gaetz coming to work for his network after the MAGA firebrand withdrew his nomination for attorney general amid ongoing sexual misconduct allegations, which included claims that Gaetz paid a minor for sex.
