A number of Pete Hegseth’s former Fox News colleagues went public with their concerns about the drinking habits of Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary—sparking doubts that he would be able to carry out the around-the-clock duties required by the critically important office.
The former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host has been under intense scrutiny after a number of reports detailed his past exploits—including allegations of sexual assault, lecherous behavior, anti-Muslim sentiments, binge drinking and a history of mismanaging veterans organizations.
A whistleblower report published over the weekend by The New Yorker alleged that he had a history of drinking heavily at work events while he ran a series of veterans’ advocacy groups. Three current and seven former Fox employees shared their own stories of Hegseth’s alleged drinking habits with NBC News Tuesday, adding to the list of concerns about Trump’s embattled pick to lead the Pentagon.
A lawyer for Hegseth, Tim Parlatore, told The New Yorker: “We’re not going to comment on outlandish claims laundered through the New Yorker by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth’s. Get back to us when you try your first attempt at actual journalism.”
Neither Fox News nor Hegseth’s lawyer immediately responded to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Two of Hegseth’s former colleagues told NBC that they would often smell alcohol on him before he went on air during his stint as a co-host on Fox & Friends Weekend. They added that he would reportedly talk about being hungover as he was getting ready to go on set or appear live on air. One source reportedly claimed to smell alcohol on him as recently as last month, and said they heard him talk about being hungover this fall.
“Everyone would be talking about it behind the scenes before he went on the air,” one former Fox employee told NBC News. Two other former employees and one current Fox employee also shared that they felt the need to “babysit” Hegseth because of his drinking.
“We’d have to call him to make sure he didn’t oversleep because we knew he’d be out partying the night before,” one source said. None of the sources could remember a moment where Hegseth missed an appearance because he had been drinking, but several noted that he sometimes arrived at the studio with 20 minutes or less before the show began.
The Daily Beast also obtained pictures of Hegseth taken just before midnight on a Friday night in December 2017, in which he appeared to have been drinking heavily. He appeared on air the next morning.
Some employees also expressed their concerns about Hegseth’s ability to fulfill his role as defense secretary, a demanding, 24-hour-a-day job. One former employee told NBC News, “For the sake of national security, I really hope he has stopped drinking.”
“He should not be secretary of defense,” another former Fox employee added. “His drinking should be disqualifying.
In an interview with CBS News published Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) described Hegseth’s drinking allegations as “disturbing” while noting they would be hard to defend.
“Some of these articles are very disturbing. He obviously has a chance to defend himself here,” Graham disclosed. “Some of this stuff is going to be difficult. You know time will tell.”
“Some of the things have to be addressed and we’ll see,” he continued. “What we want to do is make sure that we have good order and discipline.”
In light of Hegseth’s allegations, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team described the accusations as “disgusting” and “completely unfounded and false”
“Anyone peddling these defamatory lies to score political cheap shots is sickening,” they continued. “As a decorated combat veteran, Pete has never done anything to jeopardize that, and he is treating his nomination as the most important deployment of his life.”
