Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, has been drinking in a way that worries his colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees who spoke to NBC News. .
Two of them said that during Hegseth’s time as co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” which began in 2017, Hegseth made them smell alcohol before going on air more than a dozen times. Ta. The same two people and another person said they appeared on TV after hearing them talking about hangovers during their stay, during preparations, and on set.
One of the people said he smelled alcohol as recently as last month and was heard complaining of a hangover this fall.
None of the sources NBC News spoke to could recall an instance in which Hegseth missed a scheduled appearance due to drinking.
“Everyone would have been talking about it behind the scenes before he was on the air,” said one former Fox employee.
Here are five things to know about Pete Hegseth.
On Sunday night, The New Yorker detailed concerns about Hegseth’s drinking at two jobs he held at nonprofit organizations for veterans before joining Fox. “An unpublished whistleblower report regarding Mr. Hegseth’s tenure as president of the American Veterans Association from 2013 to 2016 states that Mr. Hegseth repeatedly appeared intoxicated while on duty, requiring his removal from the organization. “Event,” the magazine reported.
According to The New Yorker, Hegseth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, responded: “We have no intention of commenting on the outlandish claims laundered through the New Yorker by a narrow-minded, jealous and disgruntled former colleague of Mr. Hegseth’s. For your first foray into real journalism, please contact us .”
This account of Mr. Hegseth’s time at Fox News is based on NBC News interviews with three current and seven former Fox employees, all of whom asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
Three current employees said Mr. Hegseth’s drinking remained a concern until President Trump announced his choice to lead the Pentagon, at which point Hegseth left Fox.
“He was a very charming guy, but he acted like the rules didn’t apply to him,” said one former employee.
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team said: “These abhorrent claims are completely unfounded and false, and we are disgusted by those who spread these defamatory lies in order to score easy political targets.” As a decorated military veteran, Pete has never done anything to jeopardize it and treats his nomination as the most important mission of his life. ”
Parlatore, Hegseth’s lawyer, referred to NBC’s statement from President Trump’s transition press secretary. Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks in Kiev, Ukraine, on October 21 (Global Images Ukraine via Getty)
24 hour work
Accounts by former colleagues of Mr. Hegseth during his employment at Fox News cast doubt on his ability to carry out the 24-hour mission involved in managing the Department of Defense and its 3 million civilian and military personnel. are.
The Secretary of Defense typically works 24 hours a day, and may be required to respond to emergencies at night or on weekends.
In February 2023, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was on a trip to Manila, where he often had to interact with other senior officials, when he received a call at 3 a.m. local time that a Chinese reconnaissance balloon was flying over the mainland United States. I was woken up by
Similarly, the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel began around midnight ET.
And the Department of Defense is responsible for protecting America’s cities and infrastructure from potential airborne threats similar to the 9/11 attacks. At any time, day or night, the Secretary of Defense could be asked to decide whether to shoot down a civilian aircraft. In any case, a wrong decision can mean the death of innocent people.
“For the sake of national security, I really hope he stops drinking,” said one former Fox employee.
“He shouldn’t be secretary of defense,” said another former Fox employee. “His drinking should be disqualifying.”
In 1989, the Senate rejected former Sen. John Tower (R-Texas), then-President George H.W. Bush’s nomination for secretary of defense, citing concerns about Tower’s drinking history.
As co-host, Hegseth was required to work early on weekend mornings. For a show that starts at 6 a.m. ET, his female co-hosts arrived around 4 a.m. to get ready and have their hair and makeup done. The male co-hosts usually arrive around 5 a.m. or 5:15 a.m., 45 minutes before the broadcast begins, three people familiar with the matter said.
One current and two former Fox employees said they felt the need to “babysit” Hegseth because of his drinking and late nights. “I knew he was going out to a party the night before, so I had to call him to make sure he didn’t oversleep,” one of them said. Another said: “Morning TV is stressful, but Pete often made it even more stressful.”
Three sources said Mr Hegseth sometimes arrived within 20 minutes of a show starting, causing stress for his co-workers. Due to Hegseth’s late arrival, his colleagues were given very limited time and sometimes had to apply makeup while Hegseth was on set. Officials could not say whether drinking was the only reason for his tardiness.
A whistleblower report detailed by The New Yorker alleges that Hegseth repeatedly drank heavily at work events, including a November 2014 team outing to a strip club in Louisiana. The incident included being so intoxicated that he “had to be stopped” from going on stage. Dancing with strippers.
Two former employees said Mr. Hegseth also drank heavily at social events with Fox News colleagues, one of whom said he was “absolutely draining.”
Last month, the Monterey Police Department in California released records of a 2017 investigation into Hegseth’s alleged sexual assault of a woman in a hotel room after the Republican Women’s Convention. The accuser, identified in the records as “Jane Doe,” believed someone may have slipped something into her drink.
Hegseth denied any wrongdoing and was never charged.
“This police report confirms what I’ve been saying all along,” Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, told NBC News last month. “The incident was thoroughly investigated and no charges were filed as police found the allegations to be false.”
Hegseth also acknowledged paying an undisclosed settlement to the woman. Parlatore previously told NBC News that Hegseth “ultimately decided to settle the case for a significantly reduced amount” at the “heyday of the MeToo movement.” Parlatore also said his client is “innocent of any collateral damage caused by the lies the plaintiffs used to preserve their marriage.”
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