Penelope Hegseth, the mother of President-elect Donald Trump‘s defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, defended her son after a 2017 email surfaced in which she claimed he had abused women.
The New York Times reported last week on the elder Hegseth’s email, in which she said, “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,” as the younger Hegseth and his then-wife were going through a divorce in 2017. Penelope Hegseth said Wednesday on Fox News’s Fox and Friends that the email was written at a “very emotional time.”
“I’m sure many of you across the country understand how difficult divorce is on a family,” Penelope Hegseth said Wednesday. “There’s emotions. We say things, and I wrote that in haste. I wrote that with deep emotions. I wrote that as a parent, and about two hours later – My husband tells me I should think through things a little bit more, but Pete and I are both very passionate people. I wrote that out of love – about two hours later I retracted it with an apology email. But nobody’s seen that.”
Hegseth added that she and her son are “very close today” and emphasized that the email was from seven years ago. She also said she did not believe any of the allegations of sexual assault, excessive alcohol use, infidelity, or financial mismanagement, saying that she would not be defending him if she thought the claims were true.
“I am a passionate person like Pete, and sometimes emotional words come out,” Hegseth said. “I don’t believe any of that is true, any of it, and I’m here. I wouldn’t be sitting on this in this chair today if I didn’t believe that about my son.”
The elder Hegseth also said her son should be judged on who he is today, calling him a “good father” and a “wonderful son.”
“He’s a changed man,” Hegseth said. “And I just hope people will get to know who Pete is today, especially our dear female senators, that you would listen to him, listen with your heart to the truth of Pete.”
The younger Hegseth has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks after various allegations have been reported, and one report claims that Trump is considering replacing him with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as defense secretary nominee.
A seven-page whistleblower report detailed in the New Yorker indicated that Pete Hegseth was forced out of the nonprofit veteran organization due to a pattern of drunken behavior at work events and lewd and sexual misconduct toward women in the organization. This came after a settlement with a woman who accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her came to light, to the surprise of Trump’s transition team.
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Pete Hegseth has vowed to continue fighting to be confirmed as defense secretary as he meets with senators on Capitol Hill this week.
“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers,” Hegseth said Wednesday in a post on X. “The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump—and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I.”