The mother of Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, pleaded her son’s case Wednesday as his future Senate appointment appeared to be in jeopardy amid allegations of binge drinking and sexual assault.
In an interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” Penelope Hegseth addressed an email she wrote to her son in 2018, details of which were published last week by The New York Times, accusing him of having women for years mistreated.
“I wrote that in haste. I wrote that with deep emotions. I wrote that as a parent,” she told the network, explaining that it was at a time when Pete Hegseth was “going through a very difficult divorce.”
“I wrote that out of love,” she continued. “And about two hours later I retracted it with an apology, but no one saw that.”
Pete Hegseth on Capitol Hill on December 3, 2024.
Penelope Hegseth later told the Times she regretted the email, which NBC News did not receive. She also told the newspaper that she immediately apologized to Hegseth for sending it and said her statements in the email were untrue.
Hegseth’s attorney declined to make a statement, but passed along one from the Trump transition team that said: “It is embarrassing but not surprising that the NYT is publishing a story about a decontextualized excerpt from an illegally obtained private conversation between a mother and her mother. son. The whole point of this exercise is to defame Mr Hegseth.”
Hegseth has denied assaulting women and a 2017 sexual assault allegation, saying the encounter was consensual; he later reached an undisclosed settlement with his accuser. Hegseth also did not respond to questions about the binge drinking allegations Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, Hegseth vowed in a message to They’re afraid of @realDonaldTrump – and me. So they spread false, anonymous sources and BS stories. They don’t want the truth.
“Our warriors never give up, and neither do I.”
Asked on “Fox and Friends” about the allegations of sexual abuse, excessive alcohol consumption, infidelity and financial mismanagement, Penelope Hegseth said: “Our job as parents [is] correct. They have to speak the truth, and I’m a passionate person like Pete, and sometimes emotional words come out. I don’t believe any of this is true, none of it.”
‘He doesn’t abuse women, no. He has been through some tough things,” she added. “I’m not going to name them, but I just want to say that some of those, some of those attachments or descriptions, are just not true, especially anymore.”
She said she wants people to judge her son for who he is now and not for what he was like seven years ago. Most messages are ‘misinformation’.
“Pete is a new person. He is redeemed, forgiven, changed. I think after seven years we all are,” she said, once again calling her son a “changed man.”
Penelope Hegseth also said she believes her son is qualified to become Secretary of Defense, adding that his work as a TV host at Fox News prepared him for the job and taught him to be a good communicator who is sharp can think and take charge. .
Asked if she thinks the negative reports about her son have become a distraction to the start of Trump’s second term, she said: “To some extent, but I think it can be overcome.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
