Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, said Wednesday that he won’t back down amid growing scrutiny over his nomination.
Hegseth posted a photograph of himself in the military on the social platform X with a message suggesting he is subject to a smear campaign from Democrats.
“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers. The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump—and me,” he wrote.
“So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth,” Hegseth continued. “Our warriors never back down, & neither will I.”
Hegseth returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for more meetings with senators and told CBS News that he spoke earlier that morning with Trump, who told him to keep fighting for confirmation.
“I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said, ‘Keep going, keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way,’” Hegseth told CBS. “Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here for the fighters. This is personal and passionate for me.”
Republican senators Tuesday, during Hegseth’s third round of meetings since last month, questioned a new set of revelations involving allegations of alcohol abuse and