Megyn Kelly had choice words for her former Fox News colleague Pete Hegseth and his “marital history,” as he faces allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017.
Kelly, 54, addressed Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Defense’s controversial past and gave her opinion of Hegseth during an appearance on the the Charlie Kirk Show Saturday. She told the right-wing influencer she doesn’t “recommend marrying” Hegseth, whom she worked with at the network from 2014 to 2017, but brushed off his sexual assault allegations.
“I’m gonna be honest, like looking at his marital history, it’s not an example of fidelity,” said Kelly. “I’m just gonna be honest and admit that upfront.”
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Hegseth has been married three times, first to Meredith Schwarz in 2004, whom he divorced five years later. He then wed Samantha Deering. While married to Deering, however, Hegseth had a child with Jennifer Rauchet, a Fox producer at the time. Ultimately, Hegseth and Deering divorced in 2017. And in 2020, he tied the knot with Rauchet.
Kelly chalked Hegseth’s fidelity issues, in part, up to his National Guard service. The Defense secretary pick did two tours, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan.
“It’s not uncommon for these combat vets to come back and not be able to navigate their love lives all that well,” she said.
Despite her criticism of Hegseth, Kelly defended her former colleague from accusations of sexual violence.
“Having difficulty in one’s personal relationship...” Kelly argued, “is much different than being a rapist.”
Two months after divorcing Deering in 2017, Hegseth allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in Monterey, California. According to a police report of the incident, the alleged victim said that he took her phone, and trapped her in a hotel room before assaulting her.
Kelly claimed the “woman’s story smells terribly.”
Hegseth has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, insisting that the encounter was consensual. He was never charged in relation to the incident. However, Hegseth paid the woman as part of a non-disclosure agreement.
The settlement, he claims, occurred because he was concerned he’d be fired from Fox News over the allegation.
“He is completely and totally innocent. It was completely investigated. She was the aggressor,” Hegseth’s lawyer Tim Parlatore told Breitbart.
