The Secretary of Defense nomination of Pete Hegseth, the ex-Fox News weekend co-host under a cloud of allegations ranging from sexual assault and sexual harassment to abuse of alcohol to financial mismanagement of two charities, appears to have turned around after several media appearances, and the support from key Republican Senators, especially Joni Ernst, who is being subjected to a “swarm of MAGA attacks,” Politico reports.

Senator Ernst, a combat veteran who sits on the critical Armed Services Committee and initially appeared skeptical about Hegseth running the world’s largest and most lethal military, has opened the door to the possibility of giving him the thumbs up.

Ernst “previously said she wasn’t ready to back Hegseth. But after their second meeting on Monday, she said she’d be ‘supporting him through this process’ — though she would not say whether she would ultimately vote in favor of his confirmation,” ABC News reports.

Meanwhile, Politico reports Ernst’s possibly changed stance may have something to do with the extraordinary pressure she is receiving, thanks to Trump’s transition team and MAGA allies.

READ MORE: Hegseth Successfully Gaslights on Women in ‘Combat’

“In recent days, allies of Trump adopted an approach that is not novel for the president-elect and his followers: Make life extremely uncomfortable for anyone who dares to oppose him. The swarm of MAGA attacks that Sen. Joni Ernst has experienced is a warning of what’s in store for others who express skepticism of his personnel choices.”

Politico adds that “the palpable shift demonstrated how grassroots pressure, combined with the influence of Vice President-elect JD Vance, helped bolster Hegseth only days after Trump was drawing up contingency plans to tap Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead.”

“People in Trump’s orbit believed that if Hegseth’s nomination was ‘sacrificed’ to Ernst, it would become a ‘feeding frenzy’ with the president-elect’s other controversial picks.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, who served in the military for decades, on Tuesday appeared dismissive of the numerous allegations against Hegseth, claiming that they were made anonymously. He seemed prepared to afford the nominee the same civil rights as if he were being prosecuted and tried in a court of law, and not a presidential cabinet nominee to head the Pentagon, which has a budget of just under $1 trillion.

“The accusations are anonymous, the police report I’ve read uh, right now, he’s in pretty good shape,” Graham told CNN’s Manu Raju (video below). “I think he’s very smart, I actually was with him in Afghanistan what he’s doing is his duty, I was over there very briefly as a reservist. So, the accusations about mismanaging money and about, um, nonconsensual behavior, if they come forward, I will listen to those accusations, but they have to be credible and they have to be presented in a fashion that Pete can rebut.”

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“So he’s much better off this week than he was last week,” Graham said.

Raju reports there currently are no GOP Senators who have said publicly they absolutely will not vote for Hegseth.

But Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal “says a number of his GOP colleagues are opposed to Pete Hegseth’s nomination to be Defense Secretary,” reports CBS News Congressional Correspondent Scott MacFarlane. “But he says GOP colleagues might still vote for Hegseth because ‘Trump is a bully and a tyrant.'”

Watch below or at this link.

Lindsey Graham, who said last week that Pete Hegseth would have a “difficult” time, says: “Right now, he’s in pretty good shape.”
He said he would “listen to those accusations” about alleged misconduct if “if they come forward…but they have to be credible.” pic.twitter.com/fKuWMLK9xO

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 10, 2024

READ MORE: ‘I Love His Charisma’: Republican Lauds ‘Man of Integrity’ Hegseth Who Will ‘Get Rid of DEI’

Image via Reuters

He’s been called the “least qualified nominee in American history,” and has insisted to reporters that his confirmation battle will not be played out in the press, but Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, after multiple appearances before the cameras, appears to be gaining ground on what some assumed last week was a nomination that was dead in the water.

Hegseth has put to use his decade of experience as a Fox News host and leveraged his ties with his former employer to turn the ship around.

In addition to charges of being “wholly unqualified,” Hegseth is attempting to overcome numerous damning allegations, including tattoos that reflect an affinity for Christian nationalism, alleged “aggressive drunkenness,” possible alcohol intoxication on the job, alleged sexual assault of a woman who attended a Republican conference with her husband and children and says she was trapped by Hegseth in his room, and alleged financial mismanagement of two charities that support veterans.

He is also trying to change the accurate perception that he opposes women in combat roles. Women have been in combat roles in the U.S. Armed Forces since 2015. But Hegseth has long been opposed to women in combat.

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Last month, Hegseth took heat after declaring, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles,” and that “men in those positions are more capable.”

Pete Hegseth 5 days ago: “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.” pic.twitter.com/0W3LDSakud

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2024

“Rather than fight, women are best suited to ‘carry the banner of Christian love’ into war as nurses and support staff members, Hegseth writes,” opinion columnist Carlos Lozada reported at The New York Times last week, citing passages from Hegseth’s book. “Women’s physical shortcomings compared with male warriors — in terms of bone density, muscle mass and lung capacity — would make the U.S. military ‘softer’ and easier to defeat. He also emphasizes that women are naturally ‘life givers,’ so do we really want to train them to become killers? Besides, if men grow accustomed to treating women as equal targets in wartime, he reasons, ‘then you will be hard-pressed to ask them to treat women differently at home.'”

Even top news outlets and political pundits appear to have been hoodwinked after Hegseth’s appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday night.

Telling Sean Hannity he had a “great” meeting with U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) on Monday, the fast-talking Hegseth launched into apparently pre-scripted remarks (video below):

“I mean, people don’t really know this. I’ve known Senator Ernst for over ten years. I knew her when she was a state senator, running to be the first female combat veteran, and we support her in that effort and have continued to, because, you get, you get into these meetings and and you get, you get to listen to senators as an amazing advise and consent process, and you hear how thoughtful and serious and substantive they are on these key issues that they pertain to our Defense Department, and Joni Ernst is front and center on that, so able to have phone calls and meetings time and time again to talk over the issues is really, really important.”

“And the fact that she’s willing to support me through this process means a lot, and I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued that I somehow don’t support women in the military.”

“Some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women, who who serve raised their right hand to defend this country, and love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do it every single day around the globe. So I’m not presuming anything, but after President Trump asked me to be his secretary of defense, should I get the opportunity to do that, I look forward to being a secretary for all our warriors, men and women, for the amazing contributions they make in our military.”

READ MORE: ‘I Love His Charisma’: Republican Lauds ‘Man of Integrity’ Hegseth Who Will ‘Get Rid of DEI’

What Hegseth did was change the framing of the controversy.

Hegseth isn’t under fire for saying he doesn’t want women in the military, he is under fire for saying he does not believe women are capable of serving in combat—even after nearly a decade of them doing so.

And yet, that’s exactly what he said on Monday, when he conflated “warriors” with combat soldiers, saying, “I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued that I somehow don’t support women in the military.”

And he’s getting help from the media.

Here’s CBS News on Tuesday morning, almost using his words as their own reporting: “now clarifying comments he made that women should not serve in military combat roles.”

His “clarification” did not state he now believes women should serve in combat roles.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for defense secretary, is now clarifying comments he made that women should not serve in military combat roles.

Hegseth is making his case on Capitol Hill, including in a meeting with Sen. Joni Ernst, the Senate’s… pic.twitter.com/Ql9BW8aavZ

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 10, 2024

NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday published a report on YouTube titled, “Pete Hegseth appears to reverse views on women in combat.”

David Axelrod successfully served as Barack Obama’s chief strategist for both of his presidential campaigns, and as a White House Senior Advisor to the President. Now a CNN senior political analyst, here’s what he wrote on Tuesday:

“Watching Hegseth proclaim his appreciation for women in combat, months after denouncing the idea of women in combat, is reminiscent of the SCOTUS nominees who told skeptical senators that Roe v. Wade was ‘settled law.'”

And while he is correct about the justices, the only woman he proclaimed his appreciation for being in combat was Senator Ernst, who largely holds the key to his confirmation.

Watch Hegseth’s “Hannity” interview and the other videos above, or all at this link.

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Overnight, President-elect Donald Trump continued his verbal assaults on Canada, America’s largest trading partner and a top defense partner, by calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the “Governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” Some Canadians are striking back.

After the November election, Trump announced that one of his first actions would be to impose massive tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. The President of Mexico fought Trump in the press, explaining that his border demands were nonsensical since Mexico was already doing what he was calling for.

But Prime Minister Trudeau decided to fly down to Mar-a-Lago to negotiate with Trump—who is not yet President—and by doing so, some claim, gave Trump the upper hand.

“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website at 12:06 AM Tuesday. “I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all!”

READ MORE: ‘I Love His Charisma’: Republican Lauds ‘Man of Integrity’ Hegseth Who Will ‘Get Rid of DEI’

During their Mar-a-Lago meeting, Trump reportedly mocked Trudeau to his face with his “51st state” trolling, according to Fox News.

🔥 PETER DOOCY: “Tonight, we’re getting new details about that Trump-Trudeau dinner from two people who were at the table. We are told that when @JustinTrudeau told President-elect Trump that new tarrifs would kill the Canadian economy, Trump joked to him that if Canada can’t… pic.twitter.com/eAYNJL6SCq

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) December 2, 2024

Trump’s midnight move followed Prime Minister Trudeau saying on Monday that Americans “are beginning to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything from Canada would make life a lot more expensive,” The Associated Press reported. Trudeau also threatened to retaliate.

Trudeau warned that Trump’s tariffs would “mean real hardship for Americans,” who “import 65% of their crude oil from Canada, [and] significant amounts of electricity. Just about all the natural gas exported from Canada goes to the United States. They rely on us for steel and aluminum. They rely on us for a range of agriculture imports. All of those things would get more expensive.”

Trump last week promoted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of him standing in snow looking out at what was supposedly Canada but was reportedly the Matterhorn, the mountain that borders Switzerland and Italy.

So Trump is in Switzerland, looking at the Matterhorn and thinking about Canada.

That’s nice. pic.twitter.com/sYeLAlUx79

— Canadians For Trudeau 🇨🇦 (@donmorrison063) December 3, 2024

On Sunday Trump falsely claimed on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that America is “subsidizing Canada to the tune of over $100 billion.” He appeared to be referring to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which is not “over $100 billion.” In 2023, it was $67.9 billion. The U.S. economy is about ten times that of Canada, and the U.S. population is about eight times that of Canada.

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“If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state,” Trump angrily declared.

Trump: We’re subsidizing Canada to the tune of over 100 billion a year. We’re subsidizing Mexico to almost $300 billion. If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state pic.twitter.com/zTR1xI7Y3e

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 8, 2024

Some in the U.S. suggested Trudeau meeting with Trump may not have been the best move.

“Trudeau running down to Mar-a-Lago right after Trump posted his tariff threat was a huge mistake. Now Trump thinks he owns him. Amazing after all this time so many people still have no clue how to deal with him,” noted MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski.

Prime Minister Trudeau “hopping on a flight to mar a lago on back of us tariff threat (correctly) perceived as weakness by president-elect trump,” noted Ian Bremmer, founder of the political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group. He added that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum “has handled this better.”

But critics in the U.S. and Canada are blasting the President-elect.

“Trump’s ‘great state of Canada’ would have cast 20 Senate votes to convict him at his 2021 impeachment trial,” wrote The Atlantic’s David Frum, a former Bush 43 White House speechwriter who reportedly coined the term “axis of evil.”

“Perhaps Trump doesn’t realize that annexing Canada would be handing Democrats control of the House, Senate, and White House … ?” observed The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser.

“Disrespectful trolling of Canada and other countries around the world by Trump is a feature of who the man is, not a bug. The world is an unstable and dangerous enough place,” warned Bruce Anderson, a Canadian pollster and political commentator.

Canadian pundit Laura Babcock also issued a warning, writing, “FFS this is EXACTLY what I warned about on radio: Trump has a proven process of signalling, mocking and normalizing preposterous ideas (Manifest Destiny in this case) so he can weaken resistance to them! It’s how he destroys norms. We need to fight back early and often Canada.”

Former Cabinet Minister and Deputy Premier of Alberta, Canada, Thomas Lukaszuk added, “Referring to Canada as US state and to our Prime Minister as Governor must concern us all. This arogant passive aggressive language shows Trump has no respect for Canada’s sovereignty and the integrity of our borders. Such language is dangerous and can’t be tolerated.”

Canadian journalist Geoffrey Johnston slammed “ignorant bully” Trump, writing, “Canada will never join USA. Time for Canadians to stop thinking of USA as a friend. Under Trump, USA is a threat to Canada’s economy & sovereignty. Most Canadians prefer our cooperative ways to American private medicine, gun violence, & imperialism.”

See the videos and social media posts above or at this link.

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Image via Reuters