Fox News ignores Pete Hegseth
misconduct allegations as concerns over Trump pick mount
By Brian
Stelter, CNN
Published 8:37 AM EST, Tue December 3,
2024
New York CNN —
What’s a media outlet supposed to do when its longtime host is picked to
run the Pentagon, and then a series of eyebrow-raising news
stories trigger doubts about his appointment?
If you’re Fox News, evidently, you just pretend the stories don’t exist.
Fox News, which
employed Pete Hegseth for a decade, has not covered the past
week’s controversies involving President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for
defense secretary, according to SnapStream and TVEyes database searches.
The omission is potentially significant because Fox is the top TV outlet
for Republicans, and Hegseth’s confirmation hinges on Republican senators.
On Fox, Hegseth’s former colleagues aren’t raising alarms about the
allegations or defending him – they’re just not talking about the issue at all.
It’s far from the
first time Fox and other friendly pro-Trump spaces have outright ignored or
distracted their audience from an unflattering story widely reported by
mainstream news outlets.
Last Friday, The New York Times reported that
Hegseth’s own mother “accused her son of mistreating women for years.” In 2018,
while Hegseth was divorcing his second wife after having an affair with a Fox
News executive producer, his mother Penelope told him in an email that “I have
no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses
women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and
as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad,
sad truth.”
Penelope Hegseth told The Times that she regretted sending the email and
had immediately apologized to him in a second email.
On Sunday, The New Yorker reported that Hegseth was “forced out of
previous leadership positions for financial mismanagement, sexist behavior, and
being repeatedly intoxicated on the job.” The allegations came from a
“whistleblower report” and other internal emails, New Yorker reporter Jane
Mayer said.
“The behavior described by the people that he worked with really was the
kind of behavior that would get anybody fired in almost any office in America,”
Mayer said on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” Monday night.
Mayer noted that Hegseth’s lawyer “had two days to respond to the
allegations in this story” and “did not deny a single one of them.”
Instead, a Hegseth adviser said, “we’re not going to comment on
outlandish claims laundered through the New Yorker by a petty and jealous
disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth’s.”
Some of Hegseth’s allies mounted a defense through pro-Trump media
outlets like Breitbart. But Fox has noticeably avoided both recent stories.
Instead, almost all of the recent mentions of Hegseth on Fox have been
supportive or sympathetic. “A lot of people are pumped up” about Hegseth’s
appointment, “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade said last Tuesday.
Later in the week, 10 Fox programs noted that Hegseth’s home was targeted with
a pipe bomb threat.
Some indications that the former host’s appointment is facing trouble
have slipped through. On Wednesday, a guest made a stray comment about
Democrats having “real concerns” about Hegseth. On Saturday, an anchor
mentioned that Hegseth is “headed for a tough confirmation.” No context was
provided.
In effect, Fox has insulated its conservative audience from reports that
might dim their perception of Hegseth and Trump, instead offering viewers a
safe space where their existing beliefs are reinforced by sympathetic hosts and
guests.
Last month, the network did briefly report on a newly surfaced sexual
assault allegation against Hegseth from 2017. Hegseth told police the sex was
consensual and he was never charged with a crime.
When a guest on Fox said Sunday that Hegseth “has been credibly accused
of raping a woman,” an anchor interjected Hegseth’s denial, then moved on.
Hegseth was a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” at the time of the alleged
assault. Hegseth’s lawyer has said the host entered into a settlement agreement
with the accuser partly to protect his job.
For the next seven years, Hegseth’s star rose at Fox; he continued to
co-host the weekend show and appear on air until the day before Trump nominated
him to run the Pentagon, one of the most important leadership positions in the
world.
In the weeks since, Fox’s opinion programs have cheered him on while
Fox’s news programs have gingerly covered the nomination. On Monday night’s
edition of “Special Report,” anchor Bret Baier said Hegseth “called on senators
today,” and tossed to correspondent Chad Pergram, who said Hegseth’s
confirmation “could be a problem” because “he faces problems about his personal
conduct.”
The taped report did not mention The Times or The New Yorker revelations
at all.
Instead, the report showed video of a CBS reporter asking Hegseth “Were
you ever drunk while traveling on the job?” and the nominee replying “I’m not
going to dignify that with a response.”
Without any context for the “controversies surrounding Hegseth,” Pergram
moved on.
A Fox News spokesperson declined to say whether the network has made an
editorial decision not to report on allegations against its former host.
When asked if Fox management knew about the emails that were quoted by
The Times and The New Yorker, the spokesperson said Fox was not aware of the
emails.
On Tuesday’s “CNN This Morning,” Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said
that “when it comes to Pete Hegseth, there aren’t any concerns, and we feel
very good about his positioning for being confirmed by the Senate.”