One Of Pete Hegseth's Reported Behaviors Concerned His Former Fox News Coworkers

Pete Hegseth is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. secretary of defense, and, just like with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Matt Gaetz, scandal has followed. Reports have come out of the woodwork concerning Hegseth's character and fitness for the role, with a chief concern being Hegseth's issues with alcohol. Hegseth joined Fox News in 2014 and co-hosted weekend episodes of "Fox & Friends" from 2017-2024. During his hosting tenure, various colleagues became concerned over his excessive drinking habits, according to NBC News.

"Everyone would be talking about it behind the scenes before he went on the air," a former employee told the outlet. A couple of them smelled alcohol emanating from Hegseth prior to "Fox & Friends" airing live, and others said he'd work on-air after discussing how hungover he was. Former employees commented how Hegseth's drinking and habitual lateness made them feel like they had to "babysit" his early-morning TV appearances. "We'd have to call him to make sure he didn't oversleep because we knew he'd be out partying the night before," a source said.

"For the sake of national security, I really hope he has stopped drinking," one former Fox employee said while another added, "His drinking should be disqualifying." Republican senators don't share that view as some contend that Hegseth has promised to quit drinking if confirmed. "He offered up to me, and I know he has with other senators too, that he's not drinking, and that's not something he's going to do when confirmed here," Senator Eric Schmitt said to ABC. Senator Kevin Cramer spoke with Hegseth and told him, "It's really important that we have a clear-eyed secretary of defense if the phone rings at 3 in the morning," something that could prove a challenge for the man who was routinely hungover for his morning show. Hegseth agreed with Cramer, telling him, "My commitment is to not touch alcohol while I have this position."

The controversy surrounding Pete Hegseth's drinking habits would be damning enough if it only concerned his work at Fox Media, but a December 2024 expose in The New Yorker details other instances of Hegseth's drunken behavior. A whistleblower report on his time working for the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America recounts him being consistently inebriated while on the job and at events, and that an employee said he was at a bar early one morning in 2015 drunkenly yelling "Kill All Muslims! Kill All Muslims!" Hegseth was eventually forced out of the nonprofit, due in no small part to his drinking problem.

Hegseth was accused of rape in 2017 after a conference. He and others got drunk at the hotel bar afterward where he "was giving off a 'creeper' vibe," according to a text sent by the victim (via The New York Times). She became concerned with his drunken behavior toward other women and led him out of the bar and by the pool where they argued. The victim escorted Hegseth to his hotel room, where the assault then took place as Hegseth blocked the door, took the victim's phone, and assaulted her. While Hegseth was never charged with a crime stemming from the incident, he did pay a settlement to the victim for the assault in 2020. "Knowing that it was the height of the MeToo movement and any public accusation would result in his immediate termination from Fox, Mr. Hegseth ultimately decided to enter into a settlement for a significantly reduced amount," Hegseth's attorney wrote in a November 2024 statement (via ABC).

The reports of inappropriate drunken behavior and the sexual assault allegation thankfully haven't completely fallen on deaf ears in the Senate. "Much as we might be sympathetic to people with continuing alcohol problems, they shouldn't be at the top of our national-security structure," democratic senator Richard Blumenthal told The New Yorker. "Literally life-and-death issues are in the hands of the Secretary of Defense, and entrusting these kinds of issues to someone who might be incapacitated for any reason is a risk we cannot take."