Trump Bats Away Concerns Over Hegseth’s Alcohol Troubles

President-elect Donald Trump gave his strongest endorsement yet of his defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which he addressed allegations of Hegseth’s drinking habits in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker.

The clip was posted as a sneak preview of Trump’s first one-on-one interview since winning the November election, with the full interview set to air Sunday. Trump told Welker that he remains unfazed by reports that Hegseth, a military veteran and former Fox News host, had a drinking problem.

He added, “I’ve known him through Fox, but I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s basically a military guy,” adding, “I mean, every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military.”

In addition to allegations of alcohol abuse from former and even current Fox News colleagues, Hegseth has also been accused of raping a woman at a Republican conference in California, in 2017.

Lawyers for the defense secretary hopeful have responded to those claims by suggesting Hegseth’s alleged victim was the aggressor because he was so “visibly intoxicated.”