Pete Hegseth’s bid to guide the Pentagon below President-elect Donald Trump seems to be again on observe as key Republican senators look previous allegations of sexual assault and ingesting at work. However that doesn’t imply voters are on board.
A brand new Civiqs ballot for Day by day Kos ballot, fielded Dec. 7-10, discovered that 48% of registered voters oppose Hegseth’s nomination for secretary of protection, whereas 42% help it.
That is the bottom stage of internet help the ballot discovered among the many Cupboard appointees it coated. Even cretins like anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (for secretary of well being and human providers), former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (for director of nationwide intelligence), and former federal prosecutor Kash Patel (for FBI director) noticed greater ranges of help amongst America’s voters.
This ballot arrives as many Republican senators have voiced help for Hegseth.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had beforehand known as some allegations in opposition to Hegseth “very disturbing,” stated on Tuesday that the Fox Information host was “in pretty good shape.” Texas Sen. John Cornyn additionally stated he’d help Hegseth “barring any unforeseen circumstances.” And on Tuesday, Trump’s transition group launched a video showcasing three different Republican senators who will supposedly again Hegseth’s bid in Trump’s Cupboard.
Hegseth met on Monday with onetime GOP holdout Joni Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, for a second time. Their discussions had been apparently optimistic: Shortly after their get-together Ernst issued a press release the place she stated she would “support Pete through this process.”
In some methods, the adverse views towards Hegseth aren’t stunning. A November YouGov survey discovered that almost all of Individuals seen allegations of sexual assault (62%), home violence (61%), and a historical past of substance abuse (51%) as disqualifying to serve in a presidential Cupboard place.
Hegseth’s nomination has been imperiled by allegations that he raped a lady at a Republican ladies’s occasion in 2017. (Hegseth stated the intercourse was consensual, and whereas he was not charged, he additionally paid the accuser an undisclosed quantity.) However with Republicans’ slim majority within the Senate, Hegseth’s appointment may very well be torpedoed if he loses solely a handful of votes, and lots of senators’ preliminary response to his naming was noncommittal.
However the concurrent statements from Senate Republicans are a significant shift contemplating that lots of them, together with Ernst, had pointedly refused to say something even remotely optimistic about Hegseth’s nomination final week. At one level, there was widespread hypothesis that Hegseth’s nomination was doomed—to the purpose the place Trump was contemplating changing him with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Since each member of the Senate Democratic caucus is predicted to oppose Hegseth’s bid, the Military veteran can not afford to lose greater than three GOP senators in subsequent 12 months’s Congress, during which Republicans will management the higher chamber with a slim 53-47 majority.
This week, Hegseth can be set to fulfill with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
Republican lawmakers doubtless face renewed stress to again Trump’s Cupboard picks, particularly since two have bowed out mere days after their nominations. However relating to Hegseth, particularly, some Republicans are all-in to ensure he will get the vital job he’s unqualified for. A conservative group tied to multibillionaire Elon Musk is spending gobs of cash on a new pro-Hegseth advert. And Trump appears content material to disregard the quite a few allegations in opposition to Hegseth, posting a message of help on his Fact Social platform.
Hegseth is even pitching himself on Fox Information, attempting to shore up help. However because the Civiqs ballot reveals, he’s largely preaching to the choir: 88% of frequent Fox Information viewers again his nomination.
