by | Dec 6, 2024 | The Hill
President-elect Trump affirmed his support for Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth in an exclusive sit-down interview with
that will air Sunday.
“It looks like Pete is doing well now,” Trump told “Meet the Press” Moderator Kristen Welker.
“I mean, people were a little bit concerned. He’s a young guy, with a tremendous track record actually,” the former president added.
His comments come after weeks of scrutiny from coworkers, lawmakers and former Pentagon officials alike. However, Trump said that Hegseth is qualified to take the reins of the country’s top security agency.
“He went to Princeton and went to Harvard. He was a good student at both. But he loves the military and I think people are starting to see it so we’ll be working on his nomination along with a lot of others,” Trump said in the interview.
He seemed confident that Hegseth would earn the votes of 51 senators to take over the Department of Defense.
Trump told Welker “a lot of senators call me up saying he’s fantastic.”
However, NBC News reported that six
are currently questioning the pick citing reports of sexual assault allegations and an alleged
as a basis for uncertainty. Trump pushed back on those claims.
“But I’ve spoken to people that know him very well and they say he does not have a drinking problem,” Trump asserted.
Despite potential hesitation from fellow Republicans, Trump persists that the former Fox News host is ethically equipped to handle the role. Vice President-elect JD Vance has also
the effort to get Hegseth confirmed by scheduling meetings with elected officials to give the nominee one-on-one time with the Hill’s top lawmakers.
Hegseth has also said he
back down.
by | Dec 6, 2024 | The Hill
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) offered praise for
Elon Musk and his career on Thursday, while acknowledging that they may not always see eye-to-eye on political issues.
“I admire Mr. Musk. He’s been involved in very important parts of American society: AI, SpaceX and other kinds of things,” Fetterman told reporters on Capitol Hill in an interview Thursday.
“Yes, he is on a different team, but that doesn’t make me an enemy,” he continued. “I don’t … [am not] automatically going to become a critic.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat added: “It’s like, ‘Hey, he has made our economy and our nation better.’ And our politics are different, and I don’t agree with some of the things that he might say, but that doesn’t make him, like I said, an enemy.”
Musk responded to Fetterman’s remarks Thursday
on social platform X.
“Hard not to like
. He puts country over party,” he wrote.
The senator’s comments came after Musk
by President-elect Trump to lead a new
(DOGE) alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Fetterman said earlier this year that the SpaceX CEO, who has
and stumped for him on the campaign trail,
with a demographic that Democrats have a hard time identifying with.
“Most endorsements don’t count for much in this business, but Musk is … incredibly popular, and he has an appeal to a demographic that Democrats have struggled with,” Fetterman said during an October appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”
“To some people that they see him as, that’s Tony Stark,” he added. “He’s the world’s richest man, and he’s undeniably a brilliant guy.”
Fetterman has demonstrated on multiple occasions that he is willing to
on issues. Recently, he’s
to confirming some of
when he
to the White House in January. That includes
Dr. Mehmet Oz (R).
He’s also supported President Biden
to the president-elect for his New York hush money conviction, after Biden
he would pardon his own son, Hunter Biden.
