On-air talent at Fox News rushed to social media to defend Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense and former Fox & Friends Weekend host, from allegations that his drinking habits concerned employees at the cable network.
An NBC report published on Tuesday about the allegations cited three current and seven former employees at Fox, all of whom asked to remain anonymous. Over the weekend, another report in The New Yorker detailed similar concerns about Hegseth’s drinking habits while working at nonprofit veterans groups before his time at the network.
Hegseth’s attorney Tim Parlatore called the allegations levied against his client in The New Yorker report “outlandish” and declined to address them in detail. But the Wall Street Journal revealed that Trump is now lining up his former rival, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, as a replacement amid reports that up to six Republican senators' votes are unsafe, which would tank the nominartion.
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But shortly after the NBC report was published on Tuesday, Will Cain, the host of Fox and Friends Weekend, called the story “horses--t” in a post on X. Cain also collected on-the-record statements from other current and former Fox producers and employees contradicting the anonymous reports.
Rachel Campos-Duffy, the other current Fox & Friends Weekend host, also refuted the NBC reporting, noting that she sat next to Hegseth for more than eight hours a day when he co-hosted the weekend program.
Other Fox contributors who worked with Hegseth also rushed to his defense. Contributor Guy Benson said he “never experienced anything” like the alcoholism described in the report, while Dan Bongino, a popular conservative commentator and former Fox host, also chimed in calling the allegations “BULLS--T.”
Meanwhile, Fox News contributor and frequent guest co-host on Outnumbered and The Five Lisa Boothe wrote, “I’ve guest co-hosted with him numerous times before. Not once did this happen. Not once have I heard this from others. This is such a disgusting and false smear. It is wrong and malicious.”
Fox Nation host Joey Jones wrote in his own post as the news began breaking on Tuesday, “I don’t drink. I’m disgusted by the smell of alcohol on someone’s breath. I’ve never EVER seen Pete drink like that, and have never smelled alcohol on his breath at work.”
Other names to have written in support of Hegseth include former Tucker Carlson producer Greg Price, conservative political commentator and Fox guest Chad Prater, and conservative British commentator Piers Morgan.
