Pete Hegseth rips ‘slanderous stories’ and ‘BS stories’ as he breaks silence on reports Trump is considering replacing him
Pete Hegseth stressed Wednesday morning that he will not be ruled out of his role as the next defense secretary.
The president-elect is considering replacing Hegseth with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, according to a report Wednesday morning.
But Hegseth, 44, simply called the report a “smear.”
Another report from the New Yorker this week claimed that the Army National Guard veteran would get so drunk at work events that he had to be executed.
“Our warriors never give up, and neither do I,” Hegseth wrote in an X post.
DeSantis, also a veteran, was one of the remaining two candidates in the primary bid to replace Trump on the 2024 Republican ticket.
But now he may be considering joining the next government.
A spokesman for the governor did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment on the latest reporting and whether DeSantis would consider leaving his role leading the Pentagon.
Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer Rauchet walk hand-in-hand in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill for meetings with senators on Tuesday, December 3
“I do this for the warfighters, not the warmongers,” Hegseth said in a post Wednesday after the latest report emerged that he could be replaced.
‘The left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of Donald Trump – and of me,” he continued. “So they smear fake, anonymous sources and BS stories. They don’t want the truth.’
Hegseth included a 2005 image of himself along with three other Army National Guard members holding rifles and wearing uniforms and anti-aircraft guns.
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told Fox host Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday morning that claims Hegseth will be replaced are just noise.
“Until we hear from President Trump, it’s all just talk,” he told Fox Business when asked if the president-elect was considering going with DeSantis instead.
Since Hegseth, 44, burst into the spotlight when he was nominated two weeks ago, he has been accused of sexual assault and getting so drunk on the job that he was forced out of his leadership role at a veterans group.
And a 2018 email emerged in which former Fox News host Penelope Hegseth’s mother called him “an abuser of women” when he divorced his second wife Samatha to be with Jennifer Rauchet.
She now claims she immediately retracted the accusation and regrets it.
The letter, addressed April 30, 2018, was leaked to the New York Times.
She wrote, “I have tried to remain silent about your character and behavior, but after listening to how you made Samantha feel today, I cannot remain silent. And as a woman and as a mother I think I should speak out.’
“You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man who belittles, lies, cheats, sneaks 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 and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”
When asked for comment by the NYT, Penelope, an executive business coach, told a different story and took back what she had written years ago.
‘It’s not true. It’s never been true. I know my son. He’s a good father, husband.’
She called the Times “disgusting” for publishing the email and claimed it was written “in anger and emotion” at the time Hegseth and Samantha were divorcing.
Hegseth was heckled by members of the press as he met with senators on Capitol Hill on Monday and Tuesday and was harassed with questions about reports that he drank too much on the job
Hegseth’s former colleagues are also coming out of the woodwork to defend him after a NBC news report claims that 10 current and former Fox News employees said they were concerned about his drinking and that they could smell alcohol on him “as early as last month.”
While the Fox staffers remained anonymous in the NBC report, many others went on record to defend Hegseth this week.
‘Bulls***. 100 percent bulls***. Actually…horses***,” Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain responded. “Your story is about horses*** NBC News.”
“Put my name on it. For the record,” he continued. “It’ll be your only source on the record. Signed: the man who sat next to him eight hours a week for five years, starting at six in the morning.’
Former Fox News host Dan Bongino also described the allegations as “HORSES***.”
And Fox contributor Nicole Saphier wrote, “I spent eight years routinely sitting on the couch with Pete Hegseth. Not once did I suspect he had consumed anything other than an egg sandwich and coffee before going on air.”
“These hit pieces are getting laughable,” wrote contributor Joey Jones, who claimed he is “disgusted by the smell of alcohol on someone’s breath” and “has never EVER seen Pete drink like that, nor smelled alcohol on his breath at work . .’