Rep. Chip Roy defends Hegseth: ‘We’ve all had some indiscretions’

Rep. Chip Roy came to embattled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s defense as allegations and doubt amount against him, arguing that “we’ve all had some indiscretions.”

Mr. Hegseth weathered a turbulent week on Capitol Hill as allegations surrounding his drinking emerged, piling onto a previous accusation that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee spent the past week meeting with Republican senators in a bid to keep his nomination afloat. 

While Mr. Roy, Texas Republican, will play no part in whether Mr. Hegseth is confirmed in the upper chamber, he still threw his support behind the Army combat Bronze Star recipient who is wildly popular in the MAGA movement. 

“I think Pete Hegseth was an exceptional pick,” Mr. Roy told conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on Friday. “I know he’s under fire with the Senate, but he’s under fire from squishy senators who have been against everything we want to do. And so I hope Pete holds the line all the way through. I’m defending him, and we should all defend him.”

He added, “You know, look, we’ve all had some indiscretions in our past and things like that; every human has. But good grief, Pete Hegseth, he’s got the support of so many people, and he represents somebody who would take on the defense establishment, and we need that, desperately need that.”

Democratic senators are expected to vote against Mr. Hegseth, and he can afford to lose the confidence of only three Republicans in the upper chamber. 

While Mr. Trump reportedly hasn’t manned the phones to bolster support for his pick to lead the Pentagon as he did with his first choice to lead the Justice Department, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, he did post on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Mr. Hegseth was “doing very well.” 

“His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe,” the president-elect wrote. 

Still, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a retired Iowa Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and sexual assault survivor who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, signaled that she wasn’t fully on board with supporting Mr. Hegseth after they meet this week. The two are set to meet again next week. 

Although Mr. Trump’s vote of confidence for the former “Fox & Friends” cohost could warm over concerned GOP senators, he’s reportedly eying one-time rival Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor and former Navy officer who, like Mr. Hegseth, served in the Iraq War, to replace him if his nomination falls apart.