Speaking on CNN about the nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, Sen. Hagerty, something of a moderate, threw his support behind Hegseth and noted that he had managed to score a major round of applause from the senate when speaking about his past and nomination in an attempt to win over enough votes to be confirmed.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter) about Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, Sen. Hagerty said that Hegseth has his support. He wrote, “Pete Hegseth is an inspirational leader in service of our brave men and women in uniform. More and more of my Senate colleagues are learning the same after getting to know him. I support his confirmation 100%.”
During his interview with CNN on the matter, a clip of which he posted in the tweet, Sen. Hagerty noted that the military is going through a “recruitment crisis that‘s terrible and an inspirational leader like Pete is just the person to fix this.” When asked if there are alternative candidates up in the air, he said, “I think everybody needs to remain focused on the fact that Pete is the person that President Trump has designated, and I certainly support him.”
Continuing, he said he thinks the GOP will warm up to Mr. Hegseth as they get to know him, saying, “I think the Republican conference will, as they have their opportunity to get to meet Pete and get past a lot of the allegations that are in the media to to the truth. And that is that Pete is a very highly qualified leader.”
He added that the military would likely have its moral boosted by knowing that a man like Hegseth is in charge, saying, “He‘s somebody that‘s going to inspire the rank and file there in the Pentagon as well as our troops on the ground, that they‘ve got a true leader in place it appears today there‘s been a shift in strategy coming out and trying to fight back.”
Sen. Hagerty was then asked if Mr. Hegseth’s mother’s appearance on FNC quelled some concerns. When asked, “Has Penelope Hegseth’s appearance quelled any of the concerns that some of your colleagues have stated publicly?” Sen. Hagerty said, “Well, I‘d say this. With a large group of House members and he had an ovation. That was resounding.”
He added, “I think that Pete is as people get to know him again, as people get to see his deliberation his deliberate stance on trying to repair the Pentagon, try to fix our recruiting crisis, our retention crisis. I think people are overwhelmingly supportive of him. And I think that‘s going to continue to move in the right direction the momentum is with Pete right now to that point.” Watch him here:
Sen. Katie Britt took to X to post about Mr. Hegseth as well. She said, “I enjoyed meeting with @PeteHegseth and hearing about his plans to achieve President Trump’s peace through strength agenda. He is committed to putting our warfighters in the best position and returning the Pentagon’s focus to our force’s lethality.”
She added, “We also had a great discussion about the importance of Alabama to our national defense. I emphasized the imperative to base Space Command HQ on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, as well as the opportunities to further utilize Fort Novosel to benefit our men and women in uniform while creating efficiencies. Our great state’s installations, capabilities, and synergies will help protect our nation and our liberties long into the future. During our conversation, I asked direct questions about allegations that have been reported by the media, which Pete answered with candor and transparency. Based on our meeting and his answers, he has my support.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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