One of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s former Fox News colleagues is calling on him to take responsibility for the crises unfolding at the Pentagon.
Gretchen Carlson spoke to CNN’s Erin Burnett about the slew of scandals engulfing Hegseth, which have included multiple damning reports about him sharing sensitive military plans in Signal group chats. One of those groups included his wife, Jennifer, who has no official role at the Pentagon.
“He said during his confirmation hearings that he was a changed man because of two things: Jenny and Jesus,” Carlson said Wednesday night. “Now I will say that, from a Christian perspective, his behavior has not lived up to what most Christians would believe is the right thing to do, which is to take accountability, to ask for forgiveness, to say that you’ve made mistakes, and move on.”
During an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Hegseth insisted that any information shared in his group chats was “unclassified.” He also blamed “left-wing reporters” for the uproar and threatened to prosecute his former aides and allies after accusing them of leaking information to the media.
The defense secretary lashed out after subsequent bombshell reports claimed that he had converted a room in the Pentagon into a makeup studio and that he also effectively “cloned” the Signal app on his personal cellphone onto his computer at the Pentagon.
On CNN, Carlson said Hegseth’s decision to involve his wife so closely in government business likely stems from the pair’s working relationship at Fox News, where she claimed there is a constant feeling that “everyone is there to get you.”
“I think what’s really important here is that you have to understand the inside of Fox News, where, first of all, she was probably one of his producers when he filled in on the weekday showing of Fox & Friends,” she explained.
“Producers are your trusted advisers, but there’s also an idea that the world’s out against you, that everyone there is out to get you, and so I think that we’re seeing that play out now in the way in which he’s deflecting things that people say he’s doing wrong, and he’s probably just going into his isolated chamber with his wife.”
The Pentagon is currently in the midst of a “full-blown meltdown‚” according to Hegseth’s former chief spokesperson, due to Hegseth’s handling of the department, which has seen numerous high-profile staff purges following a “month of chaos.”
Among the turmoil was the purge of three of Hegseth’s top Pentagon aides in a leak probe, who claimed they were being slandered with “baseless attacks.” Hegseth’s own chief of staff, Joe Kasper, has also reportedly been reassigned to another role in the department.
When asked how Hegseth could continue operating amid the chaos, Carlson said: “Well, remember, everything is not him. During the confirmation hearings when he was asked by other senators, whether it was about the rape allegation or any other things that had come up—his misuse of finances, he would say, well, those are smears, right? Or it’s fake news.”
Hegseth denies all wrongdoing and was never charged in relation to the sexual assault claim.
“He has never been accountable for anything,” Carlson continued. “And now what I think is incredibly interesting is that these were his handpicked people.”
She added: “So now the Republican talking point to support him has been that the Department of Defense is actually out to get him, but that makes no sense because these are his people.”
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