CNN’s conservative commentator Scott Jennings gloated over protection secretary designee Pete Hegseth’s efficiency beneath a barrage of Democratic slings and arrows throughout his affirmation listening to Tuesday.
“Briefly, I feel Pete Hegseth kicked their asses right this moment. I imply, it wasn’t even shut. They didn’t lay a glove on Hegseth. No errors. Calm, cool, collected,” Jennings advised his CNN colleagues when requested by anchor Dana Bash.
Hegseth, 44, an Military Nationwide Guard veteran, had sat for about 4 and a half hours earlier than the Senate Armed Companies Committee, fielding questions on his ingesting habits, accusations of sexual misconduct and extra.
The previous Fox Information host has usually been seen as one in every of President-elect Donald Trump’s hardest forthcoming nominees to get confirmed, however Jennings argued that Hegseth was nicely ready for Dems assaults.
“I used to be appalled at a few of the means these senators dealt with themselves and a few of the traces of questioning. I imply, Tim Kaine appeared like a intercourse pervert in his questioning of Pete Hegseth,” Jennings jabbed.
Kaine (D-Va.), who was Hillary Clinton’s operating mate in 2016, referenced the rape accusations in opposition to Hegseth, which the Princeton and Harvard alum adamantly denied. Kaine latched onto how Hegseth confronted as much as dishonest on his spouse on the time.
“You cheated on the mom of that little one lower than two months after that daughter was born, didn’t you?” Kaine requested. “…I assume that in every of your weddings, you pledged to be devoted to your spouse. You’ve taken an oath to try this, haven’t you?”
Kaine implied that Hegseth couldn’t be trusted to uphold the oath of workplace as a result of he hadn’t upheld his previous vows to his spouse. The 2 went backwards and forwards and Hegseth later mentioned “I’m not an ideal particular person — I’m not claiming to be.”
Whereas reflecting on the showdown between Hegseth and Senate Democrats, Jennings remarked that Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), went on “unhinged rants about issues.”
“Hegseth was cool within the face of this unhinged questioning. They made him look good right this moment. It could be troublesome for a Republican to vote in opposition to Hegseth after the Democrats’ unseemly mudslinging right this moment,” he added.
Jennings, who beforehand served as former President George W. Bush’s particular assistant, additionally took word of the protests, together with from the left-wing Code Pink group that disrupted proceedings.
“Earlier than the factor even began, you had this like, Code Pink, you already know, protest or freak present, making an attempt to disrupt the listening to,” he mentioned. “That’s the Democratic base, by the way in which, which most likely explains why the Democrats on the committee acted in such a weird and unprofessional means.”
He mused that Democrats could have “lowered the bar” by way of expectations for Hegseth, which gave him the chance to excel.
Fellow CNN panelist and Democratic pundit Karen Finney, who served on the 2016 Clinton marketing campaign, admitted that the listening to “was as performative as these hearings get.”
“Clearly Hegseth was well-prepared,” Finney mentioned, including that “I didn’t love” how Democrats approached questioning in the course of the affirmation listening to.
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