Pete Hegseth attends FOX News All American New Year at Wildhorse Saloon on December 31, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Pete Hegseth has heard enough questions about his alleged issues with alcohol.
Donald Trump‘s pick for secretary of defense rebuffed reporters on Capitol Hill when they attempted to ask him about reports that he struggled with alcohol abuse.
“I will answer all of these senators’ questions. But this will not be a process tried in the media. I don’t answer to anyone in this group,” he said. “I answer to President Trump… I answer to the 100 senators who are part of this process and those on the committee. And I answer to my Lord and Savior and my wife and my family.”
Hegseth said he would carry on with the nomination “as long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight.” Despite his rebuke of the media and commitment to avoiding answers, Hegseth did say that he lives a different life than he did when he was accused of sexual assault.
“I’m a different man than I was years ago. And that’s a redemption story that I think a lot of Americans appreciate,” he said. “You fight. You go do tough things in tough places on behalf of your country. And sometimes that changes you a little bit.”
Hegseth did speak out about the stories surrounding his nomination on friendlier turf, going long with Megyn Kelly about his various scandals. He told Kelly that he “never had a drinking problem” and accused Democrats of running a “playbook” they honed during the nomination process of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
While they remain dedicated to Hegseth publicly, reports from inside the Trump team claim they’re considering potential replacements.
