President-elect Donald Trump dismissed Pete Hegseth’s alleged drinking problem in a new interview and expressed confidence that he will get confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
In a clip of a Meet the Press interview released ahead of Sunday’s show, host Kristen Welker asked Trump about reports of Hegseth’s excessive drinking.
“You don’t drink yourself. You’ve talked about how devastating drinking can be,” Welker said. “How concerned are you that the person who you picked for this top job at the Defense Department, at least according to those who’ve worked with him, has struggled with drinking?”
Trump responded by claiming that he has “spoken to people that know him [Hegseth] very well, and they say he does not have a drinking problem.”
The New Yorker reported that Hegseth was forced to step down from leadership roles in two veterans organizations due to mismanagement of funds, sexual impropriety and reports of intoxicated behavior.
Hegseth was reportedly so intoxicated at the organizations’ events that he needed to be carried out sometimes, the outlet reported citing a previously undisclosed whistleblower report.
Additionally, NBC News reported that Hegseth’s drinking worried several of his colleagues at Fox News. The New York Times also reported that Hegseth drank so much at a Fox News event he could not stand upright.
Hegseth has vehemently denied the allegations of excessive drinking and accuse former colleagues of being “jealous.”
Asked whether he thinks Hegseth can earn Senate confirmation, Trump told Welker, “I think he will, yeah. I’ve had a lot of senators call me up saying he’s fantastic.”
“People were a little bit concerned,” Trump added. “He’s a young guy with a tremendous track record. Actually, went to Princeton and went to Harvard. He was a good student at both, but he loves the military, and I think people are starting to see it. So, we’ll be working on his nomination, along with a lot of others.”
However, Trump said he has not gotten any assurances from senators that he’ll be confirmed.
