DADDY ISSUES

Pentagon Pete Enlists Daddy in Fight to Save His Job

The Defense secretary has been doing a lot of defending lately.

Pete Hegseth’s father is rushing to defend his son, whose job security has been questioned after the GOP’s midterm blowout and whose tenure as Defense secretary could face congressional investigations.

Republican lawmakers and allies are reportedly pushing to have Hegseth take the blame for the GOP’s loss of the House and Senate, as the Iran war and the affordability crisis it worsened weighed on voters. Hegseth, 46, responded Thursday by defending the “historic effort” and sucking up to Trump.

AUDIENCE OF ONE

Pentagon Pete Sucks Up to Trump in Wild Bid to Save His Skin

Erkki Forster

Enter his dad, Brian Hegseth.

The Defense secretary’s father cheered on a White House video hyping the military under the former Fox News host’s leadership.

“The @SecWar has a pretty good defender😉," he wrote. “And a fantastic record.”

That was far from the only time Brian publicly defended his son. His X feed was packed with such posts on Thursday alone.

He also rallied behind a video in which his son frantically defended his job and the Iran war.

Play Video

When one critic called it a “performative political ad paid for by us taxpayers,” the elder Hegseth responded, “Oh boy, I bet that video cost the taxpayers about $1.95.”

In that video, Pete Hegseth said of attempts to bring him down, “It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that.”

Brian kept up his defense throughout the day.

He claimed that his son “hasn’t been allowed to wage war since early summer,” suggesting he “would have finished it.”

In another post, he wrote in response to a Democratic congressman that Cabinet secretaries “don’t start wars,” they just “execute them.”

Brian also reposted a message from a right-wing commentator claiming to have spoken with “people at the Pentagon” who have “nothing but absolute respect” for his son.

On several occasions, Brian offered a one-word rebuttal—“false”—in replies to posts about the Defense secretary.

Brian Hegseth also shared a post from Phil Hegseth, the secretary’s younger brother, who is a senior adviser to the Homeland Security secretary and a Pentagon liaison. It included a photo of Pete in a helicopter with the Defense Department logo and the caption, “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.”

Trump acknowledged that he has been getting calls to remove Hegseth, but has so far publicly stood by him, telling ABC News he has “every intention” of keeping him.

In one possible exit strategy reportedly under discussion, Tennessee Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn would appoint Hegseth to fill the Senate seat she will vacate when she takes office as governor in January.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

William VaillancourtReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.