The mother of President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled Secretary of Defense-designee Pete Hegseth slammed the “despicable” New York Times after they published a withering email she sent her son — and said she hopes “senators will not listen to the media” over him.
Penelope Hegseth, who sent a scathing email to her son during his rocky second divorce calling him an “abuser of women,” thanked Trump for believing in him, telling “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning: “He’s not the man he was seven years ago” and that “I’m not that mother” either.
The 2018 email, leaked to the New York Times, accused him of “dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling” and saying he needed to be “called out.”
Penelope Hegseth told Fox News host Steve Doocy she wrote the message in the heat of a moment — and apologized to her son two hours later in a second email that had not been leaked.
His mother then criticized the New York Times, saying the publication “threatened” her when calling to ask for a comment on the situation.
“They call you and threaten you. They say ‘Unless you make a statement, we will publish it as is,’” she told Doocy. “I think that’s a despicable way to treat anyone.”
Despite the intense media scrutiny on her son, including allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement, Penelope Hegseth insisted her son has changed and is deserving of the nomination.
Pete Hegseth, a 44-year-old Army veteran and former Fox News personality, may still face an uphill battle getting Senate confirmation as some Republicans have started to express concerns over the allegations about his treatment of women, alcohol abuse and overall ability to run the Pentagon.
Despite reports that Trump has reportedly been considering replacing Pete Hegseth with his one-time 2024 rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Penelope Hegseth said she thinks things are still solid between her son and the upcoming President.
“The other night I heard that everything is good,” she said. “I think Trump’s a good man and he picked some good nominees.”
DeSantis, a former Navy JAG who served as a legal adviser to SEAL Team One, is now on a shortlist of potential defense secretary candidates presented to Trump by transition officials before he went with Pete Hegseth, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The list has recently been dusted off and presented to Trump again as allegations about Pete Hegseth, which some senators like South Carolina GOPer Lindsey Graham have described as “disturbing,” continue to surface.
Sources that spoke to the Journal cautioned that Trump, 78, could settle on a different replacement for Pete Hegseth should his nomination fail.
