Pete Hegseth blames the media for his controversial and shaky ...

The Pete Hegseth controversy continued for another day. And while the story could drag on for a while, the end feels predictable. The former Fox News host is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, but a series of troubling stories have put Hegseth’s nomination in jeopardy.

The stories include allegations of sexual assault, financial mismanagement and drunken behavior, as well as a damning email he received from his mother, and obtained by The New York Times, in which she called her son an “abuser of women.”

Hegseth went on the attack Wednesday, dismissing the allegations in an interview with Megyn Kelly. He made comparisons of his treatment to those that Brett Kavanaugh faced during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Hegseth told Kelly, “It is the classic art of the smear. Take whatever tiny kernels of truth — and there are tiny, tiny ones in there — and blow them up into a masquerade of a narrative about somebody that I am definitely not.”

Hegseth also attacked the press in an essay in The Wall Street Journal. He wrote about his military service and his work with the Concerned Veterans for America. He then wrote, “Since then, I’ve been at Fox News — where I saw my work as a continuation of my mission to fight for America. Again, the legacy press has used anonymous sources to try to discredit even that.”

That appeared to be a reference to an NBC News report that talked to 10 current or former Fox News staffers who said Hegseth’s drinking concerned them.

Hegseth wrote, “The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down. It’s a textbook manufactured media takedown. They provide no evidence, no names, and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf. They need to create a bogeyman, because they believe I threaten their institutional insanity. That is the only thing they are right about.”

However, a troubling story in all this is not from an anonymous source. It’s from his own mother. In a 2018 email to her son, Penelope Hegseth wrote, “You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth. I am not a saint, far from it.. so don’t throw that in my face, but your abuse over the years to women (dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling) needs to be called out.”

Penelope Hegseth appeared on Wednesday’s “Fox & Friends” on Fox News and defended her son.

She said, “I wrote that in haste. I wrote that with deep emotions. I wrote that as a parent. … I wrote that out of love. And about two hours later, I retracted it with an apology, but nobody’s seen that.”

She added, “Pete is a new person. … He’s redeemed, forgiven, changed. I just hope people will get to know who Pete is today, especially our dear female senators, that you would listen to him, listen with your heart to the truth of Pete. … He doesn’t misuse women.”

Penelope Hegseth also made a bizarre claim about being threatened by The New York Times. She claimed the threat was the Times telling her that it would publish an article about her email before she granted the Times an interview. She said, “Some of those attachments or descriptions are just not true, especially anymore. That’s the first thing they do. They say, ‘Unless you make a statement, we will publish it as is. And I think that’s a despicable way to treat anyone.”

In a statement, New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said, “This claim is flatly untrue, and in no way was Ms. Hegseth threatened. The Times did what it always does in reporting out a story, simply reaching out and asking for a comment, which we included. This was a piece of independently-reported journalism published in the name of public awareness of the nominee to lead the largest department in the Federal government. We stand behind it completely.”

Yeah, that’s how fair journalism works. A news outlet reports a story and, as a part of its report, reporters reach out to those in the story and ask if they would like to comment. And, by the way, the Times did include Penelope Hegseth’s comments in its original story.

Hegseth vowed in his Kelly interview, as well as his essay, and to reporters on Wednesday that he has no intention of giving up. He said, “I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said keep going, keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way. … Why would I back down?”

Even though Trump might be publicly supporting Hegseth, behind the scenes is a different story. There are reports that Trump already is considering moving on from Hegseth, and is thinking about nominating either Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Florida Republican Congressman Michael Waltz for defense secretary.

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Michael D. Shear wrote, “Mr. Trump has told people close to him that he likes the idea of giving Mr. DeSantis the job, saying it would be a ‘big story’ if he resurrected Mr. DeSantis after defeating him. The president-elect has also praised Mr. DeSantis’s ability to run the state of Florida, where Mr. Trump lives, and has mentioned that he is ‘a Navy guy.’”

From CNN contributor David Axelrod: “For all the yammering about ‘Fake News’ and ‘enemies of the people,’ how much would we know about Pete Hegseth’s mistreatment of women and his apparent problem with alcohol if not for probing by intrepid journalists, who have done the vetting Trump did not? This is why a free media is essential to a working democracy–to shine a bright light in dark corners.”

In what looks like a petty attempt to dunk on The Wall Street Journal, President-elect Donald Trump not only embarrassed one of his administration nominees, but embarrassed himself by essentially admitting that he didn’t vet the nominee.

Trump was apparently riled up over this headline in The Wall Street Journal: “Trump Is Dealt Setback as DEA Pick Withdraws, Pentagon Choice Scrutinized”

The story reported how Hillsborough County (Florida) Sheriff Chad Chronister had withdrawn from consideration only days after Trump nominated him for the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. In a statement, Chronister wrote, “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration. There is more work to be done for the citizens of Hillsborough County and a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling.”

Trump was set off by the Journal’s headline calling it a “setback.”

Trump wrote on his Truth Social:

The Wall Street Journal is becoming more and more obnoxious and unreadable. Today’s main headline is: “Trump’s DEA Pick Pulls Out In Latest Setback.” With all that’s happening in the World, this is their Number One story of the day. Besides, he didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters. But, more importantly, what’s my “latest” setback??? I just won the Presidency of the United States! They haven’t written a good story about me in YEARS. Somebody over there ought to look at what they’re doing. The only one worse than them is stupid, China-centric Forbes Magazine!

So, for starters, Trump needlessly undercut Chronister by saying it was his decision, not Chronister’s, to have the sheriff withdraw. Knowing Trump, that might not even be true. Then Trump wrote it was “because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters.”

That appears to be a reference to when, in 2020, Chronister arrested a church pastor, Rodney Howard-Browne, who refused to abide by COVID-19 lockdown orders. Many Republican senators started grumbling about that in the past few days even though, the Tampa Bay Times’ Dan Sullivan reported, “Charges against the pastor were later dropped. In a statement issued Sunday, Howard-Browne called Chronister a friend and said he believed he acted with good intentions. He praised the sheriff’s leadership and called him an ‘ideal candidate’ to lead the DEA.”

Is the COVID-19 arrest behind Trump’s claim of a change of heart? If so, that seems odd, considering this isn’t some breaking news story. If that’s the reason, clearly Trump and his team did zero vetting, not even a simple Google search. And, once again, the man arrested supported the man who arrested him, something that again could have been found out by anyone with a Wi-Fi connection.

Meanwhile, of all reputable mainstream newspapers, The Wall Street Journal, most notably its editorial board, certainly can’t be accused of being anti-Trump.

(Courtesy: NBC News)

Trump’s first network interview since winning the election will air Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” He will sit down with moderator Kristen Welker.

The interview is actually scheduled to take place on Friday, and then air on Sunday’s show, which runs from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Eastern on most NBC stations. Highlights from the interview will be released prior to “Meet the Press” on NBC News, NBC News NOW and NBCNews.com, all available on the NBC News app.

Veteran media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in his Status newsletter that MSNBC president Rashida Jones is “weighing an exit” from the network.

Details, however, aren’t in focus and Jones isn’t assured of leaving. In fact, a spokesperson for Jones denied to Darcy that Jones is considering leaving MSNBC. Darcy wrote, “The MSNBC chief has given no indication to her troops — or even some of those close to her — that she is exploring other opportunities and considering stepping down. It’s not clear where Jones would go next or if she is eying any specific positions for a post-MSNBC future.”

It’s possible, Darcy wrote, that Jones could stay.

However, in his CNN “Reliable Sources” newsletter, Brian Stelter wrote, “Overnight, two sources confirmed Oliver Darcy’s scoop that MSNBC president Rashida Jones is ‘mulling a departure’ early next year.”

• Donald Trump, on Tuesday, nominated Monica Crowley for ambassador, assistant secretary of state and chief of protocol. Crowley served as assistant secretary of the treasury for public affairs during Trump’s first term in office. She also has been a Fox News contributor. Media Matters’ Matt Gertz notes that Crowley could be the 10th former Fox personality to serve in the second Trump administration, depending on how nominations shake out. The Hill’s Laura Kelly reported that Crowley was accused of plagiarizing sections of her 2012 bestselling book and her doctoral dissertation at Columbia University. Kelly wrote, “Crowley criticized the plagiarism accusations as a ‘political hit job,’ but she later revised parts of her dissertation after Columbia said it had identified ‘localized instances of plagiarism.’”
• The New York Times’ Daisuke Wakabayashi and Su-Hyun Lee with “Martial Law Didn’t Silence South Korea’s Media. It Empowered Them.”
• For her “American Crisis” newsletter, Margaret Sullivan with “My plea to newsroom leaders at this dangerous moment.” Sullivan writes, “As many have pointed out, when would-be authoritarians take power, one of the first things they want to do is stamp out independent journalism. We can’t let that happen. So, how can our most important journalism institutions react? With big doses of courage, a refusal to obey in advance and insistence on standing their ground. I hope that top newsroom leaders — the decision-makers at the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, Wall Street Journal, the broadcast networks and others — are clearly communicating to their staffs that they’re not going to knuckle under.”
• The Daily Beast’s Leigh Kimmins with “‘Blood in the Water:’ Civil War at the Guardian Explodes With Allegations of Threats and Intimidations.”
• Kevin Kisner has been named the new lead golf analyst for NBC Sports. Kisner replaces Paul Azinger, who left NBC last year after his contract wasn’t renewed. NBC used a rotation of lead analysts this year, which included Kisner. The 40-year-old Kisner is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and still will occasionally play on the tour when he is not announcing.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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