Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, on Wednesday vowed to fight on to remain in consideration for the role amid an onslaught of damaging reports about his behavior.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth suggested that all allegations against him were politically motivated.
“The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents,” he wrote. “They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump — and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth.”
“Our warriors never back down, & neither will I,” he added.
Hegseth attached a picture dated Dec. 9, 2005, appearing to show him posing along with three of his fellow service members during the years he served in the U.S. military.
Hegseth’s post comes as Trump is reportedly considering replacing him as misconduct claims continue to mount against him. Other contenders for the role reportedly include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and GOP Sens. Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Bill Hagerty (Tenn.).
NBC News on Tuesday reported that his several of his colleagues while he worked for Fox News had expressed concern about his alcohol usage. Two sources told the network they smelled alcohol on his breath over a dozen times before he went on air to co-host “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team told the network the allegations were “unfounded and false.”
Over the weekend, an explosive New Yorker report revealed that Hegseth was forced to step down from his roles at two veterans groups due to “serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.”
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His lawyer Tim Parlatore told the magazine the claims laid out in the article were “outlandish” and pushed “by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth’s.”
Hegseth also faced sexual assault allegations in 2017 but was never charged with a crime. Hegseth, who has denied wrongdoing, entered an nondisclosure agreement with the woman who accused him a few years later.
Meanwhile, a video unearthed by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski from 2016 when Hegseth described Trump as “all bluster, very little substance” during an appearance on Fox News.