Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth has faced a wide range of allegations since Donald Trump nominated him to serve as secretary of the Department of Defense in November. In spite of the diversity of the accusations against Hegseth — which range from problem drinking to sexual assault — Sen. Lindsey Graham sees little more than an orchestrated smear campaign.
Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he saw shades of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh‘s contentious (and ultimately successful) confirmation in the negative press around Hegseth, disregarding the fact that the claims have come from former employees, police reports and Hegseth’s own mother.
“I’m in a good place with Pete unless something I don’t know about comes out,” he said. “These allegations are disturbing, but they’re anonymous…There’s one allegation about sexual assault, that person has the right to come forward to the committee. But about mismanagement of money, about having a drinking problem… he’s given me his side of the story, it makes sense to me.”
Graham added that Hegseth’s nomination would not become a headline-dominating affair like the hearings around Kavanaugh.
“Remember Kavanaugh?” he said. “We’re not going to let that happen to Pete. You’re not going to destroy his nomination based on anonymous allegations.”
Graham’s point echoes one made by Hegseth himself, who has trotted out several different defenses in the weeks since his nomination. In an interview with Megyn Kelly, he accused the Democrats of propping up false allegations to derail his nomination.
“That’s what they’re trying to do. That’s their playbook,” he said. “They’re going to make it up. Just like they have so far.”
Graham’s harping on the anonymity of the allegations appears to be part of a GOP playbook around Hegseth. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa shared earlier this week that she hopes to give Hegseth a fair shake away from the noise of reports in the media.
“As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth,” she added, “not anonymous sources.”
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