Joni Ernst: Pete Hegseth ‘Deserves’ to Have ‘Opportunity to Lay Out His Vision for Our Warfighters’
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) revealed that Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, “deserves” an “opportunity to lay out his vision” for the nation’s “warfighters.”
In a post on X, Ernst noted that the two would “continue” to have “constructive conversations” and that they planned “to meet again next week.” Ernst’s post comes as she has previously declined to support Hegseth, noting that she since has had a “very frank and productive discussion” with Hegseth.
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst eating at Cattlemen’s Beef Quarters at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. Gage Skidmore/Flickr
“Pete Hegseth and I will continue our constructive conversations as we move forward together in this process,” Ernst wrote. “We plan to meet again next week.”
Ernst added: “At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing.”
In response to Ernst’s post, Hegseth wrote that he had had “another substantive conversation” with Ernst, and wrote that he appreciated “her sincere commitment to defense policy.”
“I just had another substantive conversation with Senator Ernst, I appreciate her sincere commitment to defense policy, and I look forward to meeting with her again next week,” Hegseth wrote.
Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong previously reported that Ernst has denied that she is “behind a campaign” to tank Hegseth’s nomination as Secretary of Defense and take the position herself. While Ernst has denied she has a “campaign against Pete,” Ernst and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have “expressed doubt about Hegseth,” and several Democrats have supported the idea of her replacing him:
Ernst’s denial comes as she and close ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed doubt about Hegseth, driving up speculation he would have to withdraw. Ernst and Graham also previously worked together to pressure Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to drop his holds on promotions on generals due to the Biden Pentagon’s abortion policy paying for troops to travel for abortions.
Hegseth has faced several smears against him regarding claims that his “tattoos were linked to white supremacy” when they were “related to his Christian faith, and not white supremacy.” Another smear revolved around “a report on 2017 allegations from a woman” that Hegseth had “raped her,” while another smear came after the New York Times “published an angry email” that Hegseth’s mother sent him, in which she accused him “of mistreating women.”
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