President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has reportedly been drafting a list of alternative nominees for defense secretary in case Trump rethinks his choice of, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth.
According to Vanity Fair, which spoke to two unnamed Republican sources “close to Trump,” the president-elect’s transition team has been “quietly preparing a list of alternative defense secretary candidates should Trump abandon Hegseth,” following news of a 2017 sexual assault allegation.
“It’s becoming a real possibility,” claimed one of the sources. The other source said, “People are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest.”
Shortly after Trump announced his decision to nominate Hegseth for secretary of defense this month, the Trump transition team was informed about a 2020 payment Hegseth reportedly made to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a hotel and spa in 2017.
In a statement, Hegseth’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore insisted, “Mr. Hegseth is completely innocent. Not only did she take advantage of him, but we believe she then extorted him knowing that at the height of the #MeToo movement the mere public allegation would likely result in his immediate termination from Fox News.”
The New York Times reported last week that Trump had “not moved off supporting Mr. Hegseth, despite claims that his team was reassessing the pick, according to several people close to the incoming president.”
Hegseth’s nomination took Senate Republicans by surprise.
Asked for his thoughts on the nomination, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) reportedly remarked, “Really? I’d have to think about it.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on Hegseth DefSec nomination:
Really? I’d have to think about it— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 13, 2024
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) reacted, “Wow… I’m just surprised because the names that I’ve heard for Secretary of Defense have not included him,” while Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) asked, “Who?”
GOP Sens on Pete Hegseth as SecDef:
Murk: “Wow…I’m just surprised because the names that I’ve heard for Secretary of Defense have not included him.”
Budd: “He’s an impressive individual.”
Cassidy: “Who?”
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) November 13, 2024
Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) was more optimistic about the nomination, calling Hegseth “an impressive individual.”
This article originally appeared on Great America News Desk. It is republished with permission.
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