Trump’s Trash Defense Pick Has Even Lost Newsmax

Ex–Fox 5 New York host and Trumpian acolyte Greg Kelly uncharacteristically dropped the hammer on one of the president-elect’s Cabinet picks, warning that his former network colleague—defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth—has “serious baggage” that makes him “blackmailable.”

“I was once accused of sexual assault, falsely,” Kelly said on Newsmax, his current home network, Wednesday. “I would never in a billion years pay that person a dime. That doesn’t sound like a fighter. That sounds like somebody who’s blackmailable. And I’m not comfortable with that individual being the secretary of defense.”

Kelly, the son of New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, was accused of raping and impregnating a woman in 2011 before the charges were dropped a year later by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Hegseth, meanwhile, has been under fire since Donald Trump tapped him to lead the Pentagon, primarily over a shocking 2017 police report that revealed the Army veteran was accused of raping an attendee at a Republican women’s conference in Monterey, California. Hegseth has also admitted to several other scandals, including five affairs that he had during his first marriage. Some of Hegseth’s former Fox colleagues have accused him of being “handsy” and groping them. Nearly a dozen of his former co-workers have spoken to various media outlets to warn that his drinking habits are “concerning,” and some noted that they had smelled alcohol on Hegseth as recently as last month.

Republicans at the forefront of the Senate confirmation process have also taken note of Hegseth’s drinking problem. In an interview with CNN earlier this week, Republican Senator Kevin Cramer specified that Hegseth needed to stay away from the bottle and offer a promise of sobriety before taking the reins of the country’s military intelligence.

Even Hegseth’s own mother couldn’t defend the white nationalist-connected conservative, accusing her son in a scathing 2018 email following his separation from his second wife of “using women for his own power.” (Penelope Hegseth has since publicly changed her tune—on Wednesday morning, she appeared on Fox News to beg people to support her son for defense secretary.)

But beyond the unsavory misconduct, Kelly’s gripe with Hegseth is that he’s an unqualified candidate who simply hasn’t demonstrated enough loyalty to Trump to warrant such a title.

“Pete Hegseth is no Matt Gaetz,” Kelly said, referring to the legally embattled ex-congressman who was practically forced to drop his attorney general nomination last month over sex trafficking allegations. “He hasn’t done nearly enough for MAGA to warrant the Department of Defense job. And he’s got serious baggage. Serious baggage. It happens sometimes. Not every pick is perfect.”

Trump, meanwhile, has drilled down on his endorsement of the former Fox host.

“Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday morning. “He was a great student—Princeton/Harvard educated—with a Military state of mind. He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!”