Media’s Regurgitation Of Baseless Hegseth Allegations Prove They Learned Nothing Post-Election
NBC News ran a story on an unsubstantiated allegation from defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law that claims Hegseth was abusive to his ex-wife. But here’s the catch: Hegseth and his ex-wife deny the allegations. Still, multiple left-wing media outlets rushed to regurgitate the narrative, making it clear that despite plummeting trust in the media, the propaganda press hasn’t learned a thing. Instead, they’re back to recycling baseless accusations to advance their political agenda.
NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin, Sarah Fitzpatrick and Courtney Kobe reported on an affidavit that senators reportedly received from Danielle Hegseth. Danielle (who Hegseth’s lawyers say is an “anti-Trump far left Democrat”) alleged Hegseth engaged in “behavior [that] caused his second wife to fear for her safety.” Notably, Danielle admits to never actually witnessing any of this abuse.
Readers who make it to the ninth paragraph conveniently learn that Samantha (Hegseth’s ex-wife), told NBC News: “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer.”
“There was no physical abuse in my marriage,” Samantha added. The report also acknowledged that both Hegseth and Samantha signed a document in 2021 stating neither “claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.”
Surely the fact that both Hegseth and the alleged victim — Samantha — denied the allegations on several occasions means that such a baseless accusation isn’t worth the paper it was printed on, right?
Wrong.
The New York Times headlined their smear campaign: “Hegseth Ex-Sister-in-Law Tells Senators He Was ‘Abusive’ to Second Wife.” The teaser paragraph only states that Hegseth’s lawyer denied the allegations — not that Samantha herself denied the allegations. It took The Times 19 paragraphs to note that Samantha has denied the allegation.
ABC News wrote “Pete Hegseth’s ex-wife ‘feared for her personal safety,’ his former sister-in-law says in affidavit.” The outlet waited three paragraphs to note Samantha denied the allegations.
CNN went with “Senate receives affidavit from Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law accusing him of being ‘abusive’ toward ex-wife.” CNN waited five paragraphs to note that Samantha denied the allegations.
On the bright side, a Gallup survey from October found Americans’ overall confidence in “mass media” is on the steep decline following years of hoaxes and smear campaigns pushed by the left-wing media, which means the character assassination only holds so much weight.
November’s election made it clear that Americans are fed up with the media’s blatant propaganda — and yet here we are again. As trust in the mainstream left-wing media decreases, it’s likely that Americans see this story for what it is — propaganda to assassinate Hegseth’s character and tank his nomination. Meanwhile, left-wing outlets see it as an opportunity to push their agenda.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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