US president-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon is under pressure as senators weigh a series of allegations against him.
Mr Hegseth’s mother appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to defend her son, who faces multiple allegations that have emerged in the media about alcohol intoxication at work events, sexual misconduct and potential financial mismanagement.
The Trump transition team is growing concerned about Mr Hegseth’s path to confirmation in the defence role and was actively looking at potential replacements, a source said.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who competed against Mr Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is being discussed as a possible replacement if Mr Hegseth’s nomination does not move forward, according to insiders.
Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis appeared together on Tuesday at a ceremony in West Palm Beach to honour three fallen sheriff’s deputies.
Mr Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, appeared on Fox & Friends to discuss her son and a 2018 email she wrote him that was obtained by The New York Times, in which she confronted him about mistreating women after he impregnated his current wife while he was married to his second wife.
That letter followed multiple allegations, reported by the New Yorker this week, of questionable conduct around female staff.
Mr Hegseth also was accused of sexual assault in 2017, which he told California police at the time was a consensual encounter and has denied any wrongdoing.
He is a former Fox News host and a former Army National Guard major and combat veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. If confirmed by the US Senate, he would lead a two million-strong military force – more than 17 per cent of whom are female.
The revelations have concerned some members of US Congress.
“I would do anything for my son,” Penelope Hegseth said in the TV interview.
She spoke directly to Mr Trump in the segment, saying her son “is not that man he was seven years ago”.
Ms Hegseth said she wrote the email because her son and his then-wife were going through a very difficult divorce and “it was a very emotional time”.
She said she retracted the email and apologised to her son about two hours after sending the email.
