Politics

WATCH: Pete Hegseth Hammered for ‘Casually’ Cheating on His Wives

TROUBLE AND STRIFE

Hounded by Tim Kaine, Pete Hegseth also refused to say whether sexual assault or domestic violence should disqualify a Cabinet candidate.

Tim Kaine and Pete Hegseth.
Getty Images

Pete Hegseth refused to admit that sexual assault or domestic violence should disqualify a candidate for defense secretary while Sen. Tim Kaine hammered him over his infidelity during his confirmation hearing.

Like other senators, the Democrat from Virginia brought up the 2017 allegation of sexual assault against Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial pick for defense secretary. The former Fox News host has admitted to paying the woman not to file a complaint against him but maintains it was consensual sex.

Kaine, however, pressed him on the fact the incident happened while he was married to his second wife, Samantha Deering, and two months before he had a child with his former Fox News colleague, Jennifer Rauchet, who would become his third wife.

Jennifer Rauchet (L), wife of Pete Hegseth, looks on as he testifies during his confirmation hearing.
Jennifer Rauchet (L), wife of Pete Hegseth, looks on as he testifies during his confirmation hearing. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Hegseth focused instead on the legality of the situation, repeating the stock response that he “was falsely charged, fully investigated, and completely cleared.”

“I am shocked that you would stand here and say you‘re completely cleared,” Kaine said. “Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child that [was] born two months [later]? And you tell us you were completely cleared?”

After continuing to evade the matter of his infidelity for several minutes, he finally conceded to Kaine, saying, “I will allow your words to speak for themselves.”

The senator leapt on the admission—“I assume that in each of your weddings, you‘ve pledged to be faithful to your wife.”

Hegseth responded that he was “not a perfect person.“

“I have failed in things in my life, and thankfully I‘m redeemed by my lord and savior, Jesus Christ,” he said.

Pete Hegseth.
Pete Hegseth testifies during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Not letting up, Kaine asked him whether someone who has committed sexual assault should be disqualified from becoming defense secretary.

Hegseth declined to answer the question, repeating his assertion that the allegation against him is false.

And asked whether domestic violence should be disqualifying, Hegseth demurred that it was a “hypothetical.”

“I don‘t think it‘s a hypothetical,” Kaine fired back. “Violence against spouses occurs every day. And if you, as a leader are not capable of saying that physical violence against a spouse should be a disqualifying fact for being secretary of the most powerful nation in the world, you‘re demonstrating an astonishing lack of judgment.”

Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth testifies during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Kaine concluded his time for questioning by asking about accounts of Hegseth’s inappropriate behavior while drunk, claims which he has denied.

“One of your colleagues said that you got drunk at an event at a bar and chanted, ‘Kill all Muslims,’” Kaine said. “Another colleague said that you took co-workers to a strip club. You were drunk, you tried to dance with strippers. You had to be held off the stage and one of your employees, in that event, filed a sexual harassment charge.”

“Isn‘t that the kind of behavior that, if true, would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense?” the senator asked.

All Hegseth would say is that the claims were false.