Democratic Sen. Fetterman won’t rule out backing Pete Hegseth
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman said he expects to bring up a series of allegations against Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, when the two men sit down for their first meeting later today.
“I know there haven’t been any formal charges or criminal ones. But it’s all — one of the things that I’m sure, perhaps, might come up in that conversation today,” Fetterman told CNN when asked about the claims of misconduct by Hegseth, including excessive drinking and sexual assault. “But I am aware there are some allegations, of course.”
Notably, Fetterman is not ruling out support for Hegseth ahead of the meeting, which will make him the first Senate Democrat to sit down with Trump’s defense pick.
“We’re just going to have a straight up conversation,” Fetterman said.
“Honestly, I’d never heard of him before he was nominated. So it’s an opportunity to just have a discussion on … issues. I suspect there are some things we might agree on in terms of military, whether its China or Israel, and maybe disagree, perhaps on Ukraine.”
Fetterman dismissed potential backlash from his own party for meeting with one of Trump’s most contentious Cabinet selections. He has already met with another of Trump’s picks: Rep. Elise Stefanik, who Trump has chosen for US ambassador to the United Nations.
“I’m not sure why it’d be controversial to anybody, if he’s the individual who could potentially be the next secretary of defense. I’m not just a senator for Pennsylvania, for my voters or Democrats — it’s for all of us,” he said, adding that he has received “a lot” of supportive calls into his office, asking him to have the conversation with Trump picks.
Earlier today, Hegseth told CNN he is not approaching meetings with Democrats any differently than his GOP sitdowns.
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