Pete Hegseth

Peter Brian Hegseth (born June 6, 1980) is an American television host and author.[1]

Pete Hegseth
Hegseth in 2020
Personal details
Born
Peter Brian Hegseth

(1980-06-06) June 6, 1980
Forest Lake, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Meredith Schwartz
​
​
(m. 2004; div. 2009)​

Samantha Deering
​
​
(m. 2010; div. 2017)​

Jennifer Rauchet
​
(m. 2019)​
Children7
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Harvard University (MPP)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service2003–present
Rank Major
UnitUnited States Army National Guard
Individual Ready Reserve
Battles/warsIraq War
War in Afghanistan
AwardsBronze Star
Army Commendation Medal (2)
Expert Infantryman Badge
Combat Infantryman Badge

Hegseth is a former Army National Guard officer and former executive director of political advocacy groups Vets For Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. The latter, a conservative advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers, advocates for greater privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs.[2] He was considered to lead the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the Trump administration, but major veterans' groups objected to the potential pick. In January 2017, David Shulkin was selected instead.[3][4]

Education

Hegseth attended Forest Lake Area High School in Forest Lake, Minnesota, and received his Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University in 2003.[5] In 2013, he received a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[6]

At Princeton, Hegseth was the publisher of The Princeton Tory, a conservative student-run publication.[7]

Military career

Following graduation from Princeton in 2003, Hegseth joined Bear Stearns as an equity capital markets analyst and was also commissioned as a reserve infantry officer into the U.S. Army National Guard.[8] In 2004 his unit was called to Guantánamo Bay, where he served as an infantry platoon leader with the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Shortly after returning from Cuba, Hegseth volunteered to serve in Baghdad and Samarra, where he held the position of infantry platoon leader and, later in Samarra, as civil–military operations officer. During his time in Iraq, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and a second Army Commendation Medal.[9]

Conservative activism and Senate campaign

Upon return from Iraq, Hegseth worked briefly at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. According to his LinkedIn page, Hegseth left the conservative think tank in 2007 to work at Vets For Freedom as executive director.[10] His role included responding to the Federal Election Commission as "treasurer" of the organization.[11][12] He worked at Vets for Freedom until 2012.[10] The organization advocated for a greater troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.[10] Hegseth formed the political action committee MN PAC in 2012.[10]

Hegseth was the executive director for Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers.[2] The group advocated for greater privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).[2] According to his LinkedIn page, he left the group in 2015.[2]

2012 U.S. Senate campaign
Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota

Hegseth ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota in 2012.[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 the nomination.

Questioned spending

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]

Punditry

During the 2016 Republican primaries, he initially backed Marco Rubio, then Ted Cruz and ultimately Donald Trump.[10] Hegseth, since then, emerged as a strong Trump supporter.[10] As a Fox News personality, he frequently criticized the media and Democrats. He criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.[10] Hegseth has appeared on Fox News Channel, as well as on CNN and MSNBC.[15]

Fox News

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

On June 14, 2015, Hegseth accidently hit soldier with a throwing ax while doing a short segment with the West Point Band.[16] This happened during a live broadcast on Fox & Friends promoting an upcoming segment about the Stihl Timbersports Series, the co-host threw a double-bit lumberjack ax 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. In prior coordination of the upcoming event and broadcast between the West Point Band and Fox News, 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 (ISIS) 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]

Personal life

Hegseth was divorced from his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, in 2009. He married his second wife, Samantha Deering, in 2010; they have three children.[10] During his marriage to Deering, Hegseth had a daughter with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet, with whom he was having an extramarital relationship, in August 2017.[10] He and Deering divorced in August 2017. Hegseth and Rauchet, who has three young children from her first marriage, married in August 2019.[38]

In February 2019, Hegseth joked on Fox & Friends that he didn't think he had washed his hands in ten years. He explained: "I inoculate myself. Germs are not a real thing. I can't see them, therefore they're not real."[39] Hegseth addressed the comment, which received much attention on Twitter, clarifying that he was joking, saying: "My half-hearted commentary to the point is, we live in a society where people walk around with bottles of Purell in their pockets, and they sanitize 19,000 times a day as if that's going to save their life".[40]

In early August 2019 and 2020, Hegseth swam across the Hudson River with Navy SEALs in support of military veterans.[41][42]

Hegseth identifies as a Christian.[43]

Bibliography

Hegseth wrote the foreword to the 2017 book The Case Against the Establishment (ISBN 978-1-6826-1474-7) by Nick Adams and Dave Erickson.[44] His own books include:

Awards, decorations, and badges
Combat Infantryman Badge
Bronze Star
Army Commendation Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
   Expert Infantryman Badge

References
  1. "Pete Hegseth". Fox News. 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
  2. Summers, Juana. "Veterans groups sound the alarm on Trump's plan to replace VA secretary". CNN. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  3. Philipps, Dave (January 11, 2017). "Head of Veterans Health System Is Trump's Pick to Lead Veterans Affairs". The New York Times. New York City: New York Times Company.
  4. Philipps, Dave (December 12, 2016). "Veterans Groups Urge Trump to Keep Obama's V.A. Secretary". The New York Times. New York City: New York Times Company.
  5. Riese, Clint (February 15, 2012). "Hegseth weighing U.S. Senate bid". The Forest Lake Times. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  6. Padilla, Cathy (February 4, 2019). "Pete Hegseth: Fighting the War for American Values". Community Magazine. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  7. Schultz, Bob (August 27, 2008). "Meet Pete Hegseth". Journal Gazette & Times-Courier. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  8. Kersten, Katherine (July 19, 2007). "Minnesota warrior takes his fight from Iraq to Washington". Minnesota Star Tribune.
  9. Rowland, Kara. "Pete Hegseth - Bio, News, Photos". Washington Times. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
  10. Scheck, Tom (March 27, 2018). "Words and deeds out of alignment for potential Cabinet appointment and Fox News personality". apmreports.org. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  11. Hegseth, Pete (September 29, 2008). "Re: July Quarterly Report (4/1/08-6/30/08)". Letter to Federal Election Commission. Archived from the original (TXT) on July 14, 2014.
  12. Hegseth, Pete (December 7, 2009). "Re: Mid-Year Report (1/1/09-6/30/09)". Letter to Federal Election Commission. Archived from the original (TXT) on July 15, 2014.
  13. Weigel, David (July 23, 2015). "Defeated by Ron Paul's network, veterans advocate will host Rand Paul". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  14. rachelsb (May 24, 2012). "Republican Hegseth is out of U.S. Senate race. For good". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  15. "Brief Biography: Pete Hegseth". Vets for Freedom. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  16. Kirrell, Andrew (June 15, 2015). "Fox & Friends Co-Host Pete Hegseth Hits Man with Axe". Mediaite. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  17. "Jeff Prosperie". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  18. Golgowski, Nina. "'Fox & Friends' co-host hits bystander with flying ax on TV". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  19. Yglesias, Matthew (September 28, 2017). "Trump keeps saying Graham-Cassidy failed because a senator's in the hospital". Vox. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  20. "Twitter's turn; Trump's fake "hospital;" Russia's warning; Hannity v. Maddow; NFL update; new Onion editor; Mark Felt film". mailchi.mp. September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  21. Weigel, David (September 28, 2017). "Analysis | As Obamacare repeal struggled, Fox News mostly looked away". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  22. Bump, Philip (September 28, 2017). "Analysis | We've got some follow-up questions from Trump's friendly 'Fox and Friends' interview". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  23. Bacon, Perry, Jr. (March 23, 2018). "Trump Is Bringing In Loyalists And Getting Rid Of Critics". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  24. Gstalter, Morgan (May 11, 2018). "'Fox & Friends' host mocks NYT for not covering story it reported". TheHill. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
  25. Barber, James (December 31, 2018). "Army Vet Pete Hegseth Hosts New Year's Eve Coverage on Fox News". Military.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  26. Phifer, Donica (January 1, 2019). "Donald Trump Says New Year's Resolutions Are 'Success, Prosperity And Health Of Our Country'". Newsweek. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  27. Philipps, Dave (April 23, 2019). "Navy SEALs Were Warned Against Reporting Their Chief for War Crimes". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  28. Suebsaeng, Asawin; Brodey, Sam; Kirell, Andrew (May 21, 2019). "Fox News Host Pete Hegseth Privately Lobbied Trump to Pardon Accused War Criminals". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  29. Darcy, Oliver (May 21, 2019). "Fox News host Pete Hegseth has privately encouraged Trump to pardon servicemen accused of war crimes". CNN. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  30. Martinez, Luis; McLaughlin, Elizabeth (November 16, 2019). "Trump issues pardons for 3 service members accused of war crimes". ABC News. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  31. Philipps, Dave (November 15, 2019). "Trump Clears Three Service Members in War Crimes Cases". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  32. Baragona, Justin (July 30, 2019). "Fox News Host Pete Hegseth Accuses Rashida Tlaib of Having a 'Hamas Agenda'". Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  33. McLaughlin, Aidan (August 4, 2019). "Fox Host Pete Hegseth Fundraises For Laura Loomer". Mediaite. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  34. Lemon, Jason (August 13, 2019). "Fox News host expresses frustration that young Americans believe in climate change". Newsweek. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  35. Baragona, Justin (2020-01-03). "Fox Figures Hail Trump's 'Peace Through Strength' After Iran Commander Killed". Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  36. Relman, Eliza. "The Fox host with Trump's ear on military issues urges him to bomb Iranian cultural sites and 'rewrite the rules' of war to be 'advantageous to us'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  37. Grynbaum, Michael M.; Abrams, Rachel (2020-03-02). "Right-Wing Media Says Virus Fears Were Whipped Up to Hurt Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  38. Yilek, Caitlin (August 16, 2019). "Pete Hegseth getting married to Fox colleague at Trump golf club". Washington Examiner. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  39. Wolfson, Sam (11 February 2019). "'Germs are not a real thing': Fox News host says he hasn't washed hands in 10 years". The Guardian.
  40. Tobin, Ben (11 February 2019). "Fox News host Pete Hegseth comes clean? I do wash my hands". USA Today.
  41. Dorman, Sam (August 3, 2019). "Pete Hegseth, Navy SEALs swim across Hudson River to honor military vets". Fox News. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  42. "Pete Hegseth swims with Navy Seals to honor veterans". Fox News. August 8, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020 – via Yahoo News.
  43. Goins-Phillips, Tré (April 17, 2019). "'Fox & Friends Weekend' Co-Host Pete Hegseth Talks Faith, Recent Trip to the Holy Land". Faithwire. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  44. "The Case Against the Establishment". Scribd. Retrieved May 15, 2020. (preview includes the forward)
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