President-elect Donald Trump gave his strongest endorsement yet of his defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which he addressed allegations of Hegseth’s drinking habits in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker.
The clip was posted as a sneak preview of Trump’s first one-on-one interview since winning the November election, with the full interview set to air Sunday. Trump told Welker that he remains unfazed by reports that Hegseth, a military veteran and former Fox News host, had a drinking problem.
Welker questioned Trump, “You don’t drink yourself. You’ve talked about how devastating drinking can be. How concerned are you that the person 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 replied, “I’ve spoken to people that know him very well, and they say he does not have a drinking problem.”
The president-elect further described Hegseth as “a young guy with a tremendous track record,” adding, “I think other people are starting to see it. So, we’ll be working on his nomination along with a lot of others.”
Welker then pressed Trump on whether he still had confidence in his pick. Trump replied, “Yes, I do, I really do.”
He added, “I’ve known him through Fox, but I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s basically a military guy,” adding, “I mean, every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military.”
In addition to allegations of alcohol abuse from former and even current Fox News colleagues, Hegseth has also been accused of raping a woman at a Republican conference in California, in 2017.
Lawyers for the defense secretary hopeful have responded to those claims by suggesting Hegseth’s alleged victim was the aggressor because he was so “visibly intoxicated.”
