Victim of smears or reformed man? Trump’s defence chief pick Pete Hegseth evaded difficult questions on character

There is no dispute that Pete Hegseth is an unorthodox pick. That is precisely why he was Donald Trump’s chosen one.

The former Fox News host and National Guard veteran is a proud, self-styled “change agent” with forthright views on the US military – from its ability to beat China in a possible future conflict to the woke ideology he believes has infested the ranks.

The Senate confirmation gauntlet for Pete Hegseth was the mother of all interviews to lead the mother of all government departments.

Over four hours he sought to prove that he is the right person to be US defence secretary – leading a department of three million people with a budget of $8bn (£6.5bn) – despite having no experience of leadership at anything like that level.

His character dominated – Democratic Senator Mark Kelly listed allegations of occasions when he had been drunk and incapacitated. Mr Hegseth dismissed them one by one as “anonymous smears”.

Mr Kelly then asked him if he’d have answered differently had he been under oath. He had no answer for that.

Then, questions about his sexual conduct. It emerged last month that a California woman had told police that Mr Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone and sexually assaulted her. Mr Hegseth was not charged with a crime in connection with the allegation. 

Again he dismissed the allegation as a smear. He surely knows too that sexual impropriety is hardly a disqualifier in American politics. From Bill Clinton to Donald Trump, that much is clear.

“All they were out to do was destroy me,” Mr Hegseth told the committee “Because I’m a change agent and a threat to them because Trump was willing to choose me and empower me to change the department to choose war fighting.”

Yet, in defence of his character, he also chose the defence that he’s a changed man. “I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” he said.

“So which is it?” Democratic senators asked. “A reformed man? Or victim of smears?”

“It’s all hard to square,” Mr Kelly said.

The meat of the hearing was about Mr Hegseth’s shifting views, particularly on gay people and women serving in combat roles.

In November he told the Shawn Ryan podcast “We should straight up not have women in combat roles.”

In his recent book outlining reform in the military, the subject had its own chapter: “The Deadly Obsession with Women Warriors”.

But now Mr Hegseth says he’s fine with women serving on the front line. It’s about meeting standards, he said, not lowering them to meet quotas.

“I appreciate your 11th-hour conversion” one senator said – before another, veteran Democrat Elizabeth Warren, asked the obvious question.

“If you can convert, so rapidly, your long-held and aggressively pursued views… maybe you’ll just reverse those views and go back to the old guy.” Ms Warren said.

Then there was focus on the extent to which he would follow presidential orders, whatever they may be.

Would he carry out an order to shoot protesters in the leg, he was asked by a senator referencing Mr Trump’s proposal to do just that against Black Lives Matter protesters during his last presidency.

And would he comply with an order to invade Greenland or take control of the Panama Canal?

On both questions, Mr Hegseth was evasive. The president, he reminded the questioners, was democratically elected by a majority of Americans.

Despite the real concerns many here have, the electoral arithmetic in the Senate is on his side. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the chamber, so he does not need any Democratic support to win confirmation as long as he doesn’t lose more than three Republicans.

The Republican support for this proud “agent of change” was articulated clearly by the Republican members of the Armed Services Committee holding the hearing.

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“I am embarrassed [by the questioning].” Senator Kevin Cramer said. “You are a breath of fresh air,” another added.

Senator Jim Banks thanked Mr Hegseth for his “clarity in articulating the vision you have for the Department of Defence in restoring a warrior ethos which is in stark contrast to the ethos we have seen in the last four years which is of weakness and wokeness”.

At the end of the hearing, over on social media, a hint of what today’s American politics looks like from influential Trump cheerleader, Charlie Kirk.

“If anyone in the Senate GOP [Republican Party] votes against confirming Pete Hegseth after his stellar performance today, there will be a primary challenge waiting for you. You can take that to the bank.”

Elon Musk, whose financial clout and political power (in America and beyond) seems ever greater, replied to the post: “100%”.