Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as defense secretary, told reporters Wednesday morning that Trump continues to back him and that he will not withdraw from consideration. "I spoke to the President-elect this morning. He said keep going, keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way," Hegseth said, adding, "why would I back down?"
This comes after reporting that the incoming president is weighing replacing Hegseth with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to run the Department of Defense. Other names reportedly under consideration are Elbridge Colby, a former Pentagon official and ally of Vice President-elect JD Vance, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).
This comes as Hegseth’s mother appeared on Fox News, talking about an email that she had sent to her son in 2018 criticizing Hegseth and claiming that he mistreated his wife. "I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, and sleeps around. 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," the email, published by the New York Times, said in part. She had sent an email apology after.
She said that "I wrote that in haste. I wrote that with deep emotions. I wrote that as a parent." She added that "I wrote that out of love" and "about 2 hours later I retracted it with an apology email, but nobody's seen that."
She said, "I want people to look at Pete, judge people, or understand him for who he is today, and to disregard the media. That was 7 years ago and most of it is misinformation.
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