A Republican senator slyly alluded to Pete Hegseth’s alleged drinking habit as he blasted the defense secretary’s decision to force out top military brass.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis shared his appreciation for Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on Wednesday after his resignation this week, which he reportedly admitted in private comments had stemmed from frequent clashes with Hegseth.
In a message posted on X, Tillis, 66, also took aim at Hegseth’s leadership, using precise language to implicitly hint at the defense secretary’s rumored history of heavy drinking.
“I thank @SecArmy Dan Driscoll for his leadership to our Army and service to our country,” the GOP senator wrote. “Dan was the right man at the right moment to lead our Soldiers and Army civilians.”
Tillis said that Driscoll, 40, “cared deeply about the men and women in our Army formations” before turning his attention to the former Fox & Friends Weekend host.
He said Hegseth has been “creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks” and that he has “never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country.”
Tillis then fired off a loaded insult: “He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force.”
The senator’s intentional use of the terms “ginning up” and “soberly attending” were widely seen as veiled references to Hegseth’s relationship with alcohol.
“I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it,” the senator concluded, linking to a CBS News story identifying the more than 20 military and civilian leaders axed during Hegseth’s tenure.
Reached for comment, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the Daily Beast that the president “has complete trust in Secretary Hegseth, who is doing an incredible job leading the Pentagon.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the Pentagon for comment, which said it had “nothing to provide” regarding Tillis’ remarks.
The embattled defense secretary’s issues with alcohol are no secret.
Hegseth’s ex-wife told the FBI last year that he “drinks more often than he doesn’t,” and his former colleagues at Fox News claimed that they could smell alcohol on him before he went on air.
During his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in January 2025, Hegseth, 46, was hounded on allegations of alcohol abuse that were revealed in a bombshell report by The New Yorker from the month before.
Hegseth denied many of the allegations as “false” and others as “anonymous smears,” which included claims he was drunk in public while working for Concerned Veterans for America and passing out in the back of a party bus, according to The Washington Post.
He said at the time that he would not drink if he was confirmed, and his confirmation passed solely thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance.
Tillis, who is not seeking re-election once his term expires in January, served on the Senate Armed Services Committee for eight years and voted to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary.
However, the North Carolina Republican has become a fierce critic of Donald Trump’s MAGA agenda throughout his last year in the Senate. He has especially been upset with Hegseth’s management of the Pentagon, also releasing a similar message to Wednesday’s about the ousting of Gen. Chris Donahue.
Tillis announced last month that he will release a tell-all memoir about the president’s “grifting sycophants and useful idiots” titled How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents. The book comes out Oct. 6.
