JD Vance slammed Senate Democrats’ “grandstanding” at Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing after they repeatedly bashed the defense secretary nominee. Hegseth’s confirmation hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee began on Tuesday, January 14, with Democratic senators laying into him his controversial comments about women in the military. They also raised allegations of serious impropriety.
“I find this grandstanding from Senate Democrats over the Hegseth confirmation perplexing,” Vance wrote in a January 14 X post. “We haven’t won a war in three decades and we have a major recruitment challenge.”
“Hegseth is assuredly NOT more of the same, and that’s good!” the vice president-elect added.
Pete Hegseth and Tim Kaine’s fiery exchange
Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial pick for Defense secretary, faced serious accusations on Tuesday, with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) claiming that those accusing him of professional and personal misconduct were “not anonymous.” However, most of their names have not been reported.
“They’re not anonymous. We’ve seen records with names attached to them,” Kaine said when Hegseth denied misconduct in prior roles,” Kaine said.
“One of your colleagues said that you got drunk at an event at a bar and chanted ‘Kill all Muslims.’ Another colleague — not anonymous, we have this — said that you took co-workers to a strip club, you were drunk, you tried to dance with strippers, you had to be held off the stage. And one of your employees in that event filed a sexual harassment charge as a result of it,” he added.
Hegseth replied, “Senator, anonymous, false charges.”
“They’re not anonymous,” Kaine said. “We have seen records with names attached to all of these, including the name of your own mother. So don’t make this into some anonymous press thing. We have seen multiple names of colleagues consistently throughout your career that have talked about your abusive actions.”
Hegseth also told US senators that a “smear campaign” was trying to stop him taking the job. He is facing renewed allegations of sexual assault, misogyny, excessive alcohol consumption and financial misconduct.
