After weeks of stalling, the Senate finally confirmed Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense in a narrow 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote after three Republicans, including Sens. Mitch McConnell (KY), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Susan Collins (ME), crossed the aisle and joined Democrats in their opposition to the president.
Before the vote, infamous RINO Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) allegedly told Pete Hegseth’s ex-sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, during a January 19 phone call, which was witnessed by two others, that her sworn statement alleging Pete Hegseth’s alcohol issues and abuse toward his second wife would sway “fence” Republican senators to vote no on the nomination.
Next, Danielle submitted the affidavit citing this assurance as her reason for coming forward publicly despite personal sacrifice. Tillis ultimately voted yes, stating the statement carried weight but lacked firsthand corroboration after his due diligence and talks with Hegseth.
After the Secretary of War was confirmed, Danielle expressed disappointment with the situation, claiming the outcome would discourage abuse victims from speaking out. In light of these allegations, many critics have called out the duplicitous senator and predicted his failure in the upcoming elections.
Speaking in her sworn statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Danielle Hegseth explained, “I have been assured that making this public statement will ensure that certain Senators who are still on the fence will vote against Hegseth’s confirmation.”
“But for that assurance, I would not subject myself, or others referred to in this statement, to the public scrutiny this statement is likely to cause,” she said in the same sworn statement. “What happened today will make women who have experienced abuse and mistreatment even less forthcoming.” —
Nevertheless, Sen. Thom Tillis claimed Danielle Hegseth’s statement “did carry weight, which is why I communicated my concerns to the White House and spent days doing my due diligence and seeing if there were any firsthand corroborating accounts of the sworn statement.” Refusing to accept responsibility, he claimed his vote “makes it clear where the facts ultimately led.”
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When the article revealing the RINO plot to torpedo Hegseth’s nomination was posted to social media, conservatives were enraged. “That’s because Senator Tillis is a spineless backstabbing Judas c**k. This behavior of his is telling as to what kind of person he is. And he’s definitely not a man. He may be male but he ain’t alpha male,” one user sardonically said.
Agreeing, another noted, “His term ends in 2026, so good timing to be primaried. This is not the first time he has not yielded to the will of his constituents.” Building on this point, one response read, “Sickening! Swamp rat needs a primary challenger if the allegations are true!”
However, some users were more forgiving. “If he votes for Tulsi, Kash, and Bobby, I would urge my fellow MAGA and MAHA warriors to give him a chance to turn his F into an A. Some people break free of special interests later than others. This goes for Collins, Graham and Murkowski. Make the next choices good ones,” a woman reacted.
Reacting to the same narrative, another popular social media post summarized the situation. “Tillis’s actions added unnecessary drama to the process and nearly thwarted Hegseth’s nomination. . . Tillis ulimately voted in favor of Hegseth’s confirmation, but that doesn’t mean we should overlook his sleazy scheme,” the post explained.
Watch Hegseth declare war on DEI in the Pentagon here:
Featured image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pete_Hegseth_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg