Pete Hegseth

Hegseth ran for the Republican nomination for the 2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota.[10] He withdrew from the race after the May 2012 convention, before the Republican primary election in August,[13][14] both events in which Kurt Bills won nomination.

While Hegseth was its chief executive, Concerned Veterans for America hired his brother Philip to work for the non-profit and paid him $108,000 according to tax records from 2016 and 2017. Asked about it, Hegseth's lawyer said that Philip, a May 2015 university graduate, was qualified for the media relations job, and noted there is no prohibition against private entities hiring family members.[10]

An APM Reports analysis found that while Hegseth ran the MN PAC political action committee, one third of its $15,000 in funds were spent on Christmas parties for families and friends. Campaign finance laws in Minnesota do not prohibit such spending. Less than half of the PAC's resources was spent on candidates, and as of March 2018, the PAC had closed its account with the state board.[10]

Hegseth joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014.[10]

On June 14, 2015, Hegseth threw an axe which struck and injured a member of the West Point Band.[16] During a live broadcast on Fox & Friends promoting an upcoming segment about the Stihl Timbersports Series, the co-host threw a double-bit lumberjack axe that overshot the wooden target and hit drummer SFC Jeff Prosperie across his right elbow.[17] The axe head hit broadside on the arm such that Prosperie narrowly missed significant injury, but he did sustain minor cuts across the wrist as the axe tumbled after the initial impact. Co-ordination of the event and broadcast between the West Point Band and Fox had assured that there would be no axe throwing while the service members were performing behind the target.[18]

In September 2017, Hegseth interviewed President Donald Trump. Hegseth received criticism for allowing Trump to make false claims without challenging him.[19][20] According to an opinion column in The Washington Post, Hegseth's "interview was notable for one reason: a viewer who got most of his news from Fox heard only scant details about the contents of Cassidy-Graham. As with the previous attempts to partially repeal the ACA, the bill was covered less for its substance than as a question of whether Republicans could deliver a "win" on a key issue."[21] Philip Bump of the Washington Post provided a list of all notable claims that Trump made during the interview that, in his opinion, warranted follow-up questions which Hegseth never asked.[22] Hegseth was speculatively mentioned as a hypothetical replacement for VA Secretary David Shulkin.[23]

In May 2018, Hegseth mocked The New York Times for ostensibly not covering a story about the capture of five ISIS leaders, referring to the paper as the "failing New York Times".[24] However, it was The New York Times that broke the story in question.[24]

In December 2018, Hegseth co-hosted a several-hour New Year's Eve program with Fox Business Network's Kennedy, during which a pre-recorded telephone interview between him and President Trump was broadcast.[25][26]

In May 2019, it was reported that Trump was considering pardoning several US military service members who had been charged with war crimes, including a veteran set to stand trial for shooting indiscriminately at civilians, hitting a girl and an elderly man,[27] as well as fatally stabbing a captured teenage Islamic State member while he was receiving medical treatment. The Daily Beast and CNN later reported that Hegseth had for months sought to convince Trump to pardon these individuals. At the same time, Hegseth was discussing these cases on Fox News without disclosing that he had advised Trump to pardon them.[28][29] In November 2019, Trump pardoned three service members accused or convicted of war crimes. Shortly before Trump announced his decision, Hegseth suggested that Trump was about to take "imminent action" in the cases.[30][31]

In July 2019, Hegseth said that one of the Muslim members of Congress, Rashida Tlaib, had a "Hamas agenda".[32] In August 2019, Hegseth expressed support for the far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer's congressional campaign, and linked to her donation page.[33]

In August 2019, he lamented that "young kids voting" are worried about the adverse effects of climate change. Hegseth also criticized universities for teaching students about "environmentalism and radical environmentalism" rather than a "real threat" such as "radical Islam".[34]

In January 2020, Hegseth expressed strong support for President Trump's decision to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.[35] He also called on Trump to bomb the Iranian homeland, including cultural sites in Iran if they were storing weapons.[36]

In February 2020, amid the spread of the coronavirus to the United States, Hegseth said that Democrats were "rooting for coronavirus to spread. They’re rooting for it to grow. They’re rooting for the problem to get worse."[37]