During a recent interview with political analyst Mark Halperin, he suggested from his “best sources” that President-elect Donald Trump will replace his nominee for defense secretary with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the upcoming week.
According to CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten, Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth would need a small “miracle” in order to secure a Senate nomination. Enten believes that his nomination at the moment is more unlikely than when former Congressman Matt Gaetz was nominated and then withdrew from consideration as attorney general. Halperin also acknowledged the difficulty Hegseth faces and asserted that DeSantis would be the new pick for defense secretary “by the weekend.”
WATCH:
“President Trump doesn’t like the attacks. He also doesn’t like how the attacks have been handled. He did like, I’m told, how aggressive team Hegseth was yesterday,” Halperin said during a CNN segment. “But they’re running up against a group of senators anywhere between four and eight, I’m told, who are not inclined to vote for Pete Hegseth for a variety of reasons.”
“As for DeSantis, you know, there are people in MAGA world who are dead set against this, but there are lots of things that Donald Trump likes about it,” he said. “And again, my best sources are saying right now, if you were going to bet — it’s Trump world, so you never know — but if you were going to bet, you’d bet that by the weekend, Pete Hegseth likely will be out and DeSantis will be named to the job.”
The Hegseth nomination has come under fire because of alleged mistreatment of women, which has only surfaced once Trump nominated him for the position. During an interview with SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly, Hegseth claimed he is facing a major “smear” campaign comparing it to the confirmation process of now U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced similar allegations of sexual assault coming out of the blue.
“I had a member, not 45 minutes ago, look me in the eye in private, just he and I, and say ‘That’s what they’re trying to do to you,’” Hegseth told Kelly. “‘That’s their playbook. Get ready for more, and they’re gonna make it up, just like they have so far. All anonymous, all innuendo, all rumor, nothing sourced, no verification and they’re just gonna keep doing it, because you’re a threat to them. You’re a threat to their system. You’re a threat to all the things in Washington, D.C., the swamp, the things that people have rejected. You’re a threat to that, and so they’re coming after you.’”
“I know that, he knows that, and when you stand firm on that, it’s not difficult to just continue to fight. So yeah, we saw what happened, but guess what happened? Kavanaugh stood up, and he fought, and he won, and hopefully Republicans have learned that lesson,” Hegseth said.