News
J6 Rioters, ‘Big Lie’ Supporter Hegseth Will Have Votes to Be SecDef Says GOP Leader: Report
Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News weekend co-host who has promoted Donald Trump’s “Big Lie,” enthusiastically covered the “Save America” rally (video below) that lead up to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol—widely regarded as an insurrection or “self-coup d’état“—and voiced support for the rioters, may now have the votes needed to be confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Defense. According to a report from CBS News, Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune has indicated there will be sufficient support for Hegseth’s nomination.
“Senate Majority Leader John Thune has privately told President-elect Donald Trump that he believes Pete Hegseth will have the votes to be confirmed as Secretary of Defense, according to three sources,” CBS News senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs revealed Sunday. “When asked for comment, a spokesman for Thune would only tell CBS News, ‘Two things we don’t discuss publicly: Whip counts and private conversations with the president.'”
Hegseth’s nomination, announced nearly two months ago, was initially met with consternation and bewilderment by some on the right and strong objections by many on the left.
“Shortly after the news broke” that Trump had nominated Hegseth, “two Republican senators messaged Rolling Stone their dismay over Trump’s announcement, with each doubting Hegseth’s confirmability and basic qualifications for the high-stakes job,” Rolling Stone reported in November. “’That makes no sense!’ one of them said. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski couldn’t help but say, ‘Wow,’ when quizzed about Trump’s latest selection to fill the highest ranks of his new administration, with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) replying, ‘Who?’”
RELATED: How Hegseth and Allies Are Waging War Against the US Military to Secure His Confirmation
“It wasn’t just Republican senators who were stunned by the news. ‘WHAT. THE. REAL. FUCK,’ a former Fox News colleague of Hegseth’s exclaimed to Rolling Stone,” the magazine also reported.
Calling it “alarming,” Rolling Stone also reported that “Hegseth is uncomfortably close to extremist movements. By his own accounting, Hegseth was ‘deemed an extremist‘ and removed from a National Guard regiment tasked with protecting Joe Biden’s inauguration because of troubling tattoos. Hegseth claims the problematic ink in question is the giant Jerusalem cross tattooed on his pec, which he’s said is ‘just a Christian symbol.’ But extremism analysts have also pointed to a bicep tat reading ‘Deus Vult’ — or ‘God wills it’ — a battle cry of the medieval crusaders that has recently been appropriated by white nationalists. (The crusaders also used the Jerusalem cross, specifically, in their heraldry.)”
In November, just after his nomination as SecDef was announced, The Associated Press reported: “Since Jan. 6, Hegseth, like many Trump supporters, has minimized both the riot’s seriousness and the role of people with military training. Amid the widespread condemnation the day after the assault, Hegseth took a different approach. On a panel on Fox News, Hegseth portrayed the crowd as patriots, saying they ‘love freedom’ and were ‘people who love our country’ who had ‘been re-awoken to the reality of what the left has done’ to their country.”
Hegseth—who has no experience in managing a literal army of employees or a massive budget, and has no experience in government—is expected to face strong questioning about his alleged sexual assault of a staffer for the California Federation of Republican Women during his confirmation hearing, now expected to be scheduled for January 14.
He will likely face questions about his alleged financial mismanagement of veterans’ organizations, reports of alleged alcohol abuse and “aggressive drunkenness,” and about the various tattoos he has proudly displayed, along with others he has, that appear to reflect ties to Christian nationalism and support for the use of military efforts during the Crusades to achieve religious objectives.
Hegseth’s stated opposition to women in combat, to diversity efforts within the U.S. military, to LGBTQ service members, and to the Geneva Conventions, are all expected to become part of his confirmation hearing.
RELATED: ‘Marxist’ Agenda: Hegseth Says Gay Troops ‘Erode Standards’ in ‘Social Engineering’ Push
Additionally, Hegseth may have to fend off questions about a damning 2018 email his mother wrote to him that read in part, “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.”
“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 also said, according to The New York Times. Last month, however, Penelope Hegseth urged “female Senators” to overlook what she referred to as “media reports” and confirm her son.
The 44-year old, a devout Christian, has been married three times and has seven children. He served in the Army National Guard from 2003-2014, and again from 2019-2021.
While studying at Princeton, Hegseth wrote and/or published controversial opinion pieces in the student newspaper, The Princeton Tory.
“By advocating government support of the traditional family unit, a return of the acceptability of the ‘homemaker’ vocation, freedom from oppressive government oversight, moral responsibility, and the revival of religious faith, conservatives provide a working blueprint for a free and prosperous future,” Hegseth wrote, according to a report in the Princeton Alumni Weekly.
Last month, CNN reported that Hegseth “justified the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and spread baseless conspiracy theories claiming the initial break-in was a false flag operation carried out by leftist groups disguised as Trump supporters.”
“In comments made immediately after the riot and in the days and weeks leading up to it, Hegseth also amplified false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, a narrative that fueled the violence at the Capitol that day,” CNN also noted.
Six months after Joe Biden was sworn in as President, live and on-air, Hegseth would not say Donald Trump had lost the 2020 election.
On the morning of January 6, 2021, Hegseth stood in front of the D.C. stage where numerous Trump allies and later Trump himself would stand and falsely tell the nation the election had been stolen, and excitedly report, “the chants that are coming time and time again, are, ‘stop the steal, stop the steal,’ and we saw it coming out of Georgia, uh, that 70% of Republicans who believe that the election in November was not legitimate, that it was stolen, that may have had an effect on Georgia, but no doubt it has an effect on the hearts of of this city right now, of Americans.”
“I have friends who’ve texted me who are not very political saying, ‘I’m coming to Washington, D.C. today, ’cause I can’t handle what’s happening in my country.’ I think it’s not an understatement to say, we’re in a constitutional tinder box right now with people on both sides believing there’s legitimacy and illegitimacy, based on things they feel in their heart and love of their country,” Hegseth excitedly continued. “Donald Trump will articulate a lot of that today from the stage. He’ll have thousands of supporters here and dozens of senators and congressmen on the House of Representatives objecting with that long debate that will go on and on, will the um will the the rally go on longer, longer?”
Watch the video of Hegseth from January 6, 2021 below or at this link.
Here is Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, fervently supporting the January 6 rally and promoting false election claims at the Ellipse—the very rally that incited an insurrection, bringing U.S. democracy to the brink of collapse. pic.twitter.com/aQ5uBbfJe9
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) January 6, 2025
RELATED: Hegseth Successfully Gaslights on Women in ‘Combat’
Image via Reuters
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
 |
Maine Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner is under fire after releasing a video declaring that new allegations against him are false, yet he is “taking time to reflect” on a path forward.
Politico on Monday afternoon reported that a woman who dated Platner, Jenny Racicot, “says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.”
“Racicot said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner,” Politico reported, “for more than two years before he entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night in late 2021, deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop. She said she cut off contact with him after telling him the encounter was not consensual.”
In a video posted to social media eleven minutes after the Politico story dropped, Platner says, “I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me. Any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false.”
He said he and his supporters “were united in a love of Maine, a belief that our politics must change, in a focus on defeating Susan Collins.”
“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins.”
“Those were the goals when we launched this campaign. And they remain my goals today.”
“Throughout it all, you never turned your back on me. And I will not turn my back on you now. Every one of you deserves to see that vision come to fruition and see Susan Collins defeated. And we will use every tool at our disposal to do so.”
The Bulwark’s Tim Miller, a political commentator who served as the communications director for the Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign, blasted Platner.
“I’m sorry but ‘we are taking time to reflect on the best path forward’ is not an option on the table,” Miller wrote. “Either it’s false and you campaign with vigor or it’s true and you get out / apologize to everyone you let down.”
Journalist Ryan Grim, commenting on Platner’s video, noted that Platner “strongly suggests he is considering dropping out. Already Troy Jackson and Chellie Pingree, both gubernatorial candidates, are being kicked around in Maine circles as potential replacements.”
Several others, including Puck News’ Peter Hamby, predicted Platner will be dropping out.
Platner had postponed several campaign events before the Politico story was published.
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 6, 2026
President Donald Trump is facing backlash after posting a video of children — including showing their unblurred faces — graduating from kindergarten, with some of the girls purportedly wearing hijabs.
“President Trump posted a captionless video of graduating kindergarteners on Truth Social on Monday, goading his supporters into verbally attacking little children simply for being Muslim,” The New Republic reported. “The clip is from Gateway STEM Academy, a majority-Black K-8 public charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota. It shows about 21 children in caps and gowns on stage singing a song together. Most of the girls are wearing hijabs.”
The original post of the video which Trump reposted reads: “Public school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Every girl is in a hijab … in kindergarten.”
Trump did not add any comments. TNR called the post “Islamophobic, weird, and creepy,” while noting that the comments section of Trump’s post was filled with calls “by racist, xenophobic MAGA supporters” to “deport the children and ban hijabs.”
TNR also noted that it “should come as no surprise that Trump isn’t above attacking children who just learned how to read, but this post is still particularly discomforting—and will certainly contribute to the already potent level of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. and in Minnesota.”
Critics blasted Trump.
“There is something deeply unsettling about the president of the United States—the most powerful person in the world—going after kindergarten schoolchildren in Minnesota because they wore hijabs, as Trump has done this morning on his website,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein wrote.
One social media commentator wrote, “Trump posted an unblurred video of more than a dozen Muslim kindergartners to Truth Social, exposing the children’s faces while targeting them for their religion.”
Another added, “Trump is a bigot. The president took to Truth Social to attack kindergarteners in hijabs. These are little kids. The president isn’t just a bigot, he’s also a coward.”
The original video was posted to the X social media platform in June.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) at the time commented, “If you are in a public school in America, you should be speaking english.”
Image via Reuters
President Donald Trump’s apparent efforts to delay releasing the $5.8 million civil judgment to E. Jean Carroll are being met with a warning by the journalist’s legal team, who suggest there could be a legal maneuver for Trump to employ to forgo paying the judgment in either of the two cases he lost.
According to The Guardian, on July 4, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Trump to release the $5.8 million judgment, which is in escrow, to Carroll by this coming Tuesday — or explain why he would not do so.
Carroll’s attorneys think Trump may be trying to buy time to mount another legal strategy, telling the judge that Trump’s request for an extension “appears to be little more than yet another play for time.”
“The case is separate from Trump’s appeal of a Manhattan civil jury’s 2024 award of $83.3m to Carroll for defamation,” The Guardian explains. “But her lawyers have suggested a legal scenario in which the president might seek to conjoin the cases and further delay payment of both.”
Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge) wrote, “We can only assume that defendant is seeking … to buy time so he can try to concoct some new basis to put off paying plaintiff presumably in connection with his forthcoming petition and motion for a rehearing.”
Trump’s former attorney, Justin Smith, in one of his final acts, wrote to the Supreme Court suggesting that his client would be appealing the $83.3 million civil judgment.
Smith argued that the Supreme Court “may wish to consider the petitions together,” given they involve the same parties.
The larger judgment case involves possible questions of presidential immunity, and that has Carroll’s attorneys concerned.
“A conjoined case, Carroll’s lawyers fear, could result in both judgments being wiped out,” The Guardian reports.
The president has also made clear he is no fan of Judge Kaplan, after the jurist made several rulings that “angered” Trump.
“What else can you expect from a Trump Hating, Clinton appointed judge, who went out of his way to make sure that the result was as negative as it could possible be,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in 2023, “speaking to, and in control of, a jury from an anti-Trump area which is probably the worst place in the US for me to get a fair ‘trial’.”
Image via Reuters
Platner Scorched Over ‘Taking Time’ Video After New Accusation
Trump Sparks Fury Online After Posting Unblurred Video of Muslim Kindergartners in Hijabs
One Legal Maneuver Threatens to Undo Everything E. Jean Carroll Won
Inside the Group Helping MAGA Voters Walk Away — And What Finally Pushed Them
