As justices on the U.S. Supreme Court were hearing arguments in the Biden administration’s challenge to a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming treatment for transgender minors, far-right influencer, anti-LGBTQ commentator and activist, and Daily Wire podcaster Matt Walsh was outside the Court attacking what he calls “trans ideology” — and calling for it to be “entirely erased from the earth.”

Walsh did not explain what he meant by “trans ideology,” but the LGBTQ organization GLAAD has an explainer on so-called “gender ideology.”

“Employed by prominent anti-LGBTQ accounts and similar to the trope ‘transgenderism,’ ‘gender ideology’ is a malicious rhetorical construct that falsely asserts that LGBTQ — notably trans — people are an ideological movement rather than an intrinsic identity,” GLAAD writes.

On Wednesday, Walsh declared, “Children have a right to be protected from all of those people over there who want to harm them and damage them and destroy them, and they will be.”

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He appeared to be referring to the transgender allies and activists outside the Supreme Court.

“They are gonna lose,” he proclaimed. “They are losing right now. We are not going to let them harm our children. This case is just the beginning of the fight. It is not the end. We are not gonna rest until every child is protected, until trans ideology is entirely erased from the earth. That’s what we’re fighting for, and we will not stop until we achieve it. So to the trans activists over there who are claiming, this is all about the rights of children, I say again: yes, you’re right, it is. They have a right to be protected, from you.”

Walsh also said outside the Court, “There’s no such thing as a ‘trans kid.’ That doesn’t exist. Those kids are not trans. They are confused, and their confusion has been exploited by quacks and abusers. They are abuse victims. They are not trans kids.”

Walsh has called for parents who are supportive of their transgender children to be “thrown in prison.”

Citing the ADL, GLAAD also notes, “’proponents of the phrase often use it to oppose school curricula that feature and/or celebrate LGBTQ+ history or experiences, falsely claiming that such materials promote the sexualization of minors and/or coerce children into identifying as members of the LGBTQ+ community.’ The Southern Poverty Law Center adds: ‘Anti-LGBTQ+ groups often employ the term to claim any kind of positive affirmation of trans young people is a nefarious method of creating or recruiting new trans kids.’ On Twitter/X, for example, far-right outlet The Daily Wire widely promoted a speech by anti-trans commentator Matt Walsh, who said in April 2023, ‘I truly see the fight against gender ideology as the last stand for Western civilization.’ Other extremist accounts have used the phrase as a dog whistle to spread animus against trans people. That same month, Gays Against Groomers posted across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X: ‘Gender ideology must be completely abolished and destroyed.'”

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Meanwhile, inside the Supreme Court, CNN reports the conservative majority justices appeared ready to let the state of Tennessee do whatever it wants on the issue.

“It seems to me that it’s something where we are extraordinary [sic] bereft of expertise,” Chief Justice John Roberts said, CNN reported.

“Why isn’t it best to leave it to the democratic process?” Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked.

But liberal Justice Elena Kagan disagreed.

“It’s a dodge to say that this is not based on sex,” Kagan said. “The medical purpose is utterly and entirely about sex.”

The Associated Press also reported the Supreme Court “seemed likely to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Matt Walsh outside the Supreme Court: “This case is just the beginning of the fight. It is not the end. We are not gonna rest … until trans ideology is entirely erased from the earth. That’s what we’re fighting for, and we will not stop until we achieve it.” pic.twitter.com/HGUIKNs2D0

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) December 4, 2024

READ MORE: Hegseth: Trump Told Me ‘I’m Behind You All the Way’ But Reports Suggest Otherwise

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for U.S. Secretary of Defense, was back on Capitol Hill Wednesday to try to convince senators to support his confirmation, vowing to not withdraw despite numerous media reports alleging sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse, financial mismanagement, a possible Christian nationalism affinity — and a possible replacement.

Hegseth, walking through the halls of Congress Wednesday morning, was asked by CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion (video below) if he has had any conversations with Trump about his rumored replacement, Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

“I spoke to the president-elect this morning,” Hegseth replied. “He said, ‘keep going, keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way.'”

“So you’re in this all the way?” Killion pressed.

READ MORE: ‘Standards Have Evolved’: Senator ‘Leaning Yes’ on Hegseth Despite Misconduct Allegations

“Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here for the fighters. This is personal and passionate for me,” Hegseth insisted.

“So you’re not withdrawing your name from consideration, just to be clear?” Killion asked.

“I’m meeting all day with senators,” Hegseth, not directly answering her question, replied.

Hewseth’s mother spoke with her son’s colleagues in a Fox News interview Wednesday morning, urging “female Senators” to ignore the media reports and confirm Pete to lead the world’s most lethal military.

But despite the full-frontal blitz by Hegseth and his mother, and his claims that Trump is still behind him, the Trump transition team may not be.

The Wall Street Journal in an overnight exclusive reported Trump is considering Florida governor Ron DeSantis to replace Hegseth as even Republican senators and growing concerned over the “mounting allegations” about Hegseth.

CNN reports Hegseth’s nomination is “in trouble,” and the Trump transition team is apparently angered by Hegseth.

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“He has not been forthright with the Transition team staff and the President-elect and Vice President-elect,” a senior Trump transition source said of Hegseeth, CNN reported Tuesday night. “He has hurt a lot of people as a result. He didn’t disclose anything.”

“There are significant concerns more accusations are going to come out from his time at Fox News, about his behavior there, where he had an affair with his now-wife who was his executive producer,” the source also said.

Watch the video below or at this link.

HEGSETH to @NikolenDC

I spoke to the President elect this morning. He said keep going keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way.”

Q. So you are in this all the way?

“Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. Im here for the fighters. This is personal & passionate… pic.twitter.com/HLFdfflES4

— Alan He (@alanhe) December 4, 2024

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Image via Reuters

Penelope Hegseth, the mother of Donald Trump’s current and embattled nominee for U.S. Secretary of Defense, appeared on the cable network where her son Pete works, to urge the U.S. Senate, and especially “female Senators,” to disregard media reports—which include allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive alcohol abuse, financial mismanagement of two veterans’ organizations, and tattoos suggesting a link to Christian nationalism. She insisted her son is a changed man and should be confirmed.

In a sit-down one-on-one interview with Fox News co-host Steve Doocy, who called her “Penny,” Penelope Hegseth on Wednesday said the letter she sent her son, which The New York Times published late last week, does not reflect the man he is today, or the mother she is. But when asked if she would testify on her son’s behalf before the U.S. Senate, she refused to commit.

According to The Times, Penelope Hegseth told her son in a 2018 email, “On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself.”

READ MORE: ‘Standards Have Evolved’: Senator ‘Leaning Yes’ on Hegseth Despite Misconduct Allegations

“I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth,” she wrote, according to The Times.

The paper also reported Hegeth in her letter stated that she still loved her son. She reportedly apologized for the letter hours later.

On “Fox & Friends,” Penelope Hegseth began by saying, “let me make two statements first and one is to President Trump. And I want to say thank you for your belief in my son. We all believe in him. We really believe that he is not that man he was seven years ago. I’m not that mother.”

“So the other thing I want to say is, I am here to tell the truth, to tell the truth to the American people and tell the truth to the senators on the Hill, especially our female senators. I really hope that you will not listen to the media and that you will listen to Pete.”

The media reports about Pete Hegseth—the weekend “Fox & Friends” co-host President-elect Donald Trump has picked to run the most lethal and well-funded military in all of history—that Penelope Hegseth is asking the U.S. Senate to “not listen to” are numerous, and highly-damaging.

Mother Jones on Monday published “A Running List of the Allegations Against Pete Hegseth.”

It does not yet include the latest NBC News report that says, “Ten current and former Fox employees say Trump’s pick for defense secretary drank in ways that concerned his co-workers.”

But it does characterize the current allegations against Hegseth under the headings: “Mismanagement, a Drinking Problem, and Sexually Inappropriate Behavior,” “Rape Allegation,” and, “His Mother Called Him ‘an Abuser of Women’.”

Penelope Hegseth made clear her goal in appearing on Fox News was as much to help get her son confirmed as it was to “discredit the media and how they operate.”

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“I came to take on New York City, to take on the New York Times,” she also said.

She explained that when she was called recently by reporters about the letter she wrote her son Pete in 2018, “I let a few phone calls go, but then they call you and say, they threaten you. That’s the first thing they do. They say, ‘unless you make a statement, we will publish it as is.’ And I think that’s a despicable way to treat anyone.”

When asked what her “message” is to The New York Times, she replied, “I would say I don’t think the way you operate is, it feels almost criminal when reporters call you and threaten you. I don’t think a lot of people know that’s the way they operate. And they are in it for the commission, for the money, and they don’t care who they hurt — families, children. I just I don’t believe that that is the right way to do things.”

Doocy asked, “Do you think that’s just the way they try to get the story?”

“Oh, of course,” she replied. “It’s their job, but I can take the opposite view.”

Critics have blasted Penelope Hegseth’s interview, and Pete Hegseth for not withdrawing his nomination to become U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Journalist Gretchen Carlson, the now former longtime Fox News host whose sexual harassment lawsuit helped bring down Fox News chief Roger Ailes, blasted Penelope Hegseth:

“OMG — watching Hegseth’s mom interview on Fox & Friends — twice calling out to GOP female Senators to believe him — saying Pete has changed over 7 years. She is the one who wrote the email annihilating him for his treatment of women & is now saying it’s not true.”

As did others.

“Hegseth can do the ‘never back down’ shtick all he wants but when the nomination reaches the ‘have his mommy say nice things on TV’ phase and she’s not willing to commit to testifying as a character witness, feels like it’s in a pretty bad place,” observed Aaron Fritschner, Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). He added, “if someone was foolish enough to nominate me for something senate confirmed … [I] am extremely confident that my mommy would not hesitate to testify in my defense.”

CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote, “Penelope Hegseth’s main message was that Pete is a changed man. That’s the narrative his allies have been pushing in private, as well. But a changed-man narrative is premised on ugliness in the man’s past.”

Watch the videos below or at this link.

Pete Hegseth’s mom Penelope on Fox & Friends makes a direct appeal on behalf of her son to Trump pic.twitter.com/dsQFEuGlYg

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 4, 2024

Penelope Hegseth goes full MAGA on Fox & Friends by attacking the media for coverage of a letter she wrote to her son Pete criticizing him for his abusing behavior pic.twitter.com/95ylJkAhVE

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 4, 2024

Penelope Hegseth claims the New York Times’s reporting is “almost criminal” (they reported on an email she sent) pic.twitter.com/J5y1WFPDCs

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 4, 2024

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