Hegseth must lead the Pentagon to save recruiting

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) told ABC News on Sunday morning Piet Hegseth should be confirmed as defense secretary because the former Fox News host told him that a number of U.S. service members said his appointment had inspired them to stay in the military.

Hagerty argued that the anecdote was evidence that Hegseth, who leads the military, would make the forces combat-ready and that a 2017 sexual abuse allegation against the 44-year-old was irrelevant.

On ABCs This weekanchor Jonathan Karel the Tennessee Republican asked about the California sexual assault case, which was never tried and which Hegseth has denied through a lawyer.

Karl asked: “You know, I understand that Donald Trump wasn’t even aware of these accusations until he gave him his name, do you understand?” Hagerty replied:

Jon, these are all, as you said, accusations. It’s amazing how this comes out. Piet is a very talented person. I spoke to him earlier this week. He told me, Jon, how many people had written to him and said, look, I was thinking about leaving. You know, we have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem in the military.

I thought about getting out. But now that you’re here to lead us, Pete, I’m staying inside. That’s the kind of inspiring leader we need to see. Don’t let these accusations distract us. What we need is real significant change. The Pentagon has focused more on pronouns than on their lethality over the past four years. We have to get back to work. And I think Pete is the right person to do it.

You can read the full police report on the sexual assault allegation against Hegseth here.

Watch above via ABC News.

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