GOP Senator Hangs Pete Hegseth Out to Dry When Asked Point-Blank if He Has Confidence in Defense Secretary

A Republican Senator stopped well short of defending Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when confronted about his job performance on Sunday.

In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, moderator Kristen Welker pressed Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) about Hegseth — referencing Sen. Thom Tillis’s (R-NC) call for Hegseth’s ouster earlier in the week over the reported purge of top officers from the military.

“He is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks,” Tillis posted on X. “I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.”

Citing the Tillis criticism, Welker put the question to Kennedy directly.

“Do you still have confidence in Secretary Hegseth?” Welker asked.

“Well, it’s not my place to have confidence in him,” Kennedy replied.

“Well, you’re a senator,” Welker responded.

Kennedy responded with an assessment of Hegseth that was far from a ringing endorsement.

“Here’s why I see Mr. Hegseth doing, ” Kennedy said. “Let me say this first. He’s consolidating power. That’s clear. He seems to be firing some pretty good people. Whether they deserve it or not, I don’t know. I voted for him. I’d probably vote for him again until evidence is shown to me that he shouldn’t have fired these guys. But I’m not worried about the personalities.”

The senator added:

“I’m worried about two things. We need more butts, not just for Iran but for the world. And number two, we need to be partnering up with Ukraine to develop a new way to fight wars. And that begins with drones. And number three, we need to give the military some more money. We’re going to have to probably do it for reconciliation. Because the Democrats hate Trump so much that they don’t want to spend money on the military. And that’s the way I see it. You may disagree. But that’s what makes the world go around.”

Watch above, via NBC.

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