The unemployed Gen-Xer’s mother makes some calls so he can become Secretary of Defense

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

The former Fox News host’s mother Pete Hegseth called US senators to get her son a job as the country’s defense secretary, The hill reported on Wednesday.

Hegseth was nominated for the post by the president-elect last month Donald Trumpwho has appointed several former Fox News personalities to his incoming administration because apparently being on TV means you can run the government. Although he is a former Army infantry officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, his nomination still stunned the Beltway because the Defense Department is quite large, employing more than two million people.

Hegseth left his gig on Fox last month after his nomination, but a different Hegseth appeared on Wednesday Fox & friends to limit damage. His mother, Penelope HegsethShe defended her son and explained to him her scathing 2018 email in which she called him “a misogynist.”

“You abuse women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for men who belittle, lie, cheat, sleep around and abuse women for his own power and ego,” she wrote in the email received by The New York Times. “You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother it pains me and embarrasses me to say it, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

Penelope said she sent her son another email that day apologizing and saying it was written in anger.

“Go back seven years, if we all went back seven years we would realize that maybe we are not the people we are today,” she said on Fox News. “Pete and his wife have been through a difficult divorce, a very emotional time, and I am sure many of you across the country understand how difficult divorce is on a family.”

Just a few hours later, The hill reported that Penelope was calling senators whose support her scandal-plagued son would need if he were to be confirmed as the next head of the Pentagon, which one of them is doing.

“Pete Hegseth told RSC members that his mother made calls to senators on his behalf,” Mychael Schnell reported.

Not surprisingly, the report drew widespread ridicule.

“Alpha male,” a former Republican congressman said dryly. A reporter compared Hegseth to Simpsons character Milhouse Van Houtenwho once famously insisted, “But my mom says I’m cool.”

On BlueSky, The Daily Show released a Fox News clip from earlier this year in which Hegseth mocked a report that claimed some Gen Z applicants had brought a parent to the interview.

“Is that how you got this job?” Jesse Watters Hegseth asked.

“I brought my aunt and my mother,” Hegseth joked. “You can vouch for me!”

Shortly after Hegseth got the nod, several disturbing reports emerged. In 2017, a woman claimed to police in Monterey, California that he raped her in a hotel room. The investigation ended without charges and Hegseth made a payment to the woman, who signed a nondisclosure agreement. He denies the accusation.

In the meantime, The New Yorker reported that he mismanaged Concerned Veterans for America funds by using them for “partying” and “contacting.” The report also said Hegseth fostered a toxic and sexist work environment.

On Tuesday, Vanity Fair cited two sources who said Hegseth told his first ex-wife that he had five affairs during their marriage.

The same day, NBC News reported that a former Fox News colleague smelled alcohol on Hegseth “more than a dozen times,” which Hegseth denies.

Republicans will control the Senate by a vote of 53-47, meaning Hegseth can only afford to lose three Republican defections – assuming all Democrats vote against him. It remains to be seen whether his mother has the urge to get him the job.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.