As the most contentious current nomination of the dozens of Trump picks works its way through the sherpa phase of individual meetings with senators, a pretty significant development took place yesterday increasing the chances for Pete Hegseth to clear the confirmation hurdle and become Secretary of Defense in January.
In the wake of another Beltway special smear job originating out of NBC News, but gleefully echoed by CBS and other elite media, 10 anonymous sources have allegedly claimed that Hegseth has a severe drinking problem, and it impacted his performance on air at Fox News. Hegseth vehemently denies it, as do 10 more Fox News current colleagues that have gone on the record to call BS on the NBC story. Before yesterday, there seemed to be a growing sense that there were going to be too many Republicans in the upper chamber queasy about walking this plank, and two different names were floated as replacements - Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
One of the Senate moderates, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who also happens to sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, flipped from a probable no to a probable yes after sitting down and actually talking though things with Hegseth Wednesday.
This is a very positive development if you're on Team Pete. There have also been meetings set now with Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Thus far, Hegseth has demonstrated that in one-on-one settings with senators, he's able to reassure them and tamp down concerns that come up. He also sat down with Megyn Kelly Wednesday for her podcast.
As for the drinking charge, Hegseth confronted it directly.
The contentious issue with Pete's mom was tackled by Fox News' Steve Doocy Wednesday morning as well. Here's a bit of the Penelope Hegseth interview.
Her note to her son was a harsh note. It is regrettable that the New York Times ran with this without bothering to also note that she retracted it to Pete almost immediately afterwards. She said her emotions got the best of her, and the original note was meant to get his attention at a time when she felt it was crucial to reach him. Was it as harsh a note as the one Judge Mark Scarsi issued to Joe Biden after scuttling the Hunter Biden case before him with an unprecedented sweeping pardon covering 11 years of potential criminal activity? No.
"The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history," he wrote.
...
"Rather than providing a true and correct copy of the pardon with the notice, Mr. Biden provided a hyperlink to a White House press release presenting a statement by the President regarding the pardon and the purported text of the pardon," he wrote.
...
Scarsi continued, reacting to the president's statement on his son's tax case: "the President asserts that Mr. Biden ‘was treated differently’ from others ‘who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions,’ implying that Mr. Biden was among those individuals who untimely paid taxes due to addiction. But he is not."
"According to the President, ‘[n]o reasonable person who looks at the facts of [Mr. Biden’s] cases can reach any other conclusion than [Mr. Biden] was singled out only because he is [the President’s] son.’ But two federal judges expressly rejected Biden’s arguments that the Government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the President. And the President’s own Attorney General and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges," Scarsi wrote.
Lindsey Graham, who on Wednesday seemed wobbly about the Hegseth nomination, steeled himself by the time he appeared with Hannity later in the evening.
As with the attempted Brett Kavanaugh smear job, anonymous sources carry no weight on Senate Judiciary, especially when the Republicans run the committee beginning January 3rd.
Here's Anderson Cooper on CNN talking to former Obama strategist David Axelrod.
Drinking on the job would indeed be bad. By the way, Anderson, this you?
Speaking of drinking on the job, since that's apparently now a problem on which Democrats and their regime media allies are focused, remember November 5th? This was whom Anderson Cooper and regime media backed for the most crucially important job in the free world reacting to her loss to Donald Trump.
I’ve never accused Kamala Harris of being a drunk. I like to stick only to facts. But man, this video is not helping her.
— Anna Matson (@AnnaRMatson) November 27, 2024
pic.twitter.com/qRdDXcTCiM
At one point, she even lapsed into her Forrest Tucker impersonation by hiccuping in the middle of her, well, whatever it was she was trying to say.
Holy smokes. She’s literally drunk hiccuping on camera. 😭 pic.twitter.com/HmQIKwR5TP
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) November 27, 2024
This was not the first time the Vice-President has raised questions about whether she had been imbibing on the job.
BREAKING: Multiple police officers have come forward stating that Kamala is 100% intoxicated in this clip and she would’ve been charged with a DUI if she was behind the wheel of a car.
— aka (@akafacehots) August 18, 2024
pic.twitter.com/odcy5rRHvW
Drunk Howard Dean is at it again.
— Shawn Farash (@Shawn_Farash) October 19, 2024
What on Earth is Kamala Harris doing?
pic.twitter.com/cWc7QZa3EV
Did you hear any regime media outlet question whether Kamala Harris had a drinking problem at any point in the last four years? Were there any stories citing anonymous sources that she was a regular chardonnay napper? And don't get me started with Nancy Pelosi.
And if we're talking about impairment, alcohol-induced or not, and whether it's appropriate to have someone on the job in government when they're not at their sober best, can we talk about Joe Biden?
After finishing his speech in Brazil, President Joe Biden walked away to the Amazon Forest. pic.twitter.com/eyax0lkIar
— Crazy Ass Moments in LatAm Politics (@AssLatam) November 18, 2024
BIDEN (cooked) in Africa: "I'm coming back to ride on the train." pic.twitter.com/WWUhDuGZjv
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 4, 2024
Will Pete Hegseth get confirmed? I think the odds are better than 50/50 after the statements yesterday by Senators Graham and Cramer. Hegseth can probably seal the deal if he wins over Collins and Murkowski, who are keeping their mind open at this point.
To our friends on the left, especially in regime media, you tried this stunt with Brett Kavanaugh. It didn't work. And that play in your playbook is such an obviously recognizable one now that the right is pretty nimble in being able to counter it the second you begin to run it.
There is an old adage that tons of people have adapted over the years. In short, it states if everyone says you're drunk, you'd better lie down. In the case of regime media, if everyone is telling you that your story is a smear job, perhaps you might want to sit this one out, because you're going to get steamrolled again.
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