In addition to spewing MAGA propaganda and serving as a farm team for the Trump administration, Fox ‘News’ is now a lobbying outfit, at least on behalf of the drunkard, adulterous, “handsy” and dangerously unqualified Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense.
Raw Story reported yesterday that at least two senators were contacted by Hegseth’s former colleagues pushing for his confirmation. Hegseth, who cohosted Fox & Friends on the weekends before being tapped as Donald Trump's secretary of defense, is one of at least 12 Fox employees and alums President-Elect TV watcher has recruited.
Sen. Ron Johnson, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, is one of those lobbied. Apparently, he was contacted by more than one Fox Newser:
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Raw Story that Hegseth's Fox colleagues got in touch with him and he considers them "pretty solid references," given that they work with him daily.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told Raw Story he had been contacted by one Fox Newser, but then called three more.
"They love him," he said. "It's very reassuring."
It couldn’t be more disturbing that two U.S. senators find Fox Newsers "solid references" and "reassuring," rather than relying on, say, Hegseth’s record of mismanagement and extremism. Cramer sits on both the Armed Services Committee and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Hegseth also has a record of wanting to privatize and cut health services to both active duty troops and veterans.
The Fox lobbying is in addition to its on-air campaign on behalf of Handsy Hegseth.
For example, Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade deceitfully described Hegseth as a guy who “wrote a book about the Pentagon, served 20 years in the military, has been decorated, chose the infantry after Ivy League education. You’ve seen what he’s able to accomplish for veterans.” Kilmeade left out the part about Hegseth chronically showing up to work drunk, his “handsy” behavior with women, causing “a disturbance” at a work Christmas party, a police report of sexual assault followed by a payoff and non-disclosure agreement, his serial adultery, including cheating on the Fox producer who's his third baby-mama, and a record of such mismanagement at the only two organizations he ever managed that he was pushed out of both positions.
Media Matters has more on Fox’s Hegseth propaganda effort on the air, via its December 4, 2024 article:
After NBC News reported Tuesday night that Hegseth “drank in ways that concerned his colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees” and had at times smelled of alcohol on the set, Hegseth’s Fox & Friends weekend co-host Will Cain organized public denials from network employees and testimonials to their former colleague’s character.
Fox & Friends’ co-hosts on Wednesday morning offered several minutes of praise for Hegseth, denials of the reports about him, and attacks on what they termed a media “witch hunt.” “No, we will not succumb to the left’s playbook,” Emily Compagno said. “We will not succumb to Kavanaugh becoming a verb in that the left likes to wield the media and a very public witch hunt to thwart the possibility for actual success.”
They hosted Hegseth’s mother later in the show, who defended her son, saying that he “doesn't misuse women” and that while he “has been through some difficult things. … I would just say that some of those attachments or descriptions are just not true, especially anymore.”
I’ve written extensively about the, many, many many reasons Hegseth is a dangerously terrible choice to be in charge of our military. Fox News, which constantly champions itself about its patriotism, is not just willing but eager to endanger America with this guy.
Or maybe Fox just doesn’t want him back!
(Hegseth image via screen grab)
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