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President-elect Donald Trump immediately shut down NBC’s Kristen Welker this week when she brought up Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s alleged drinking problem during an interview.

A clip from the interview began with Trump praising Hegseth.

Listen:

“He’s a young guy with a tremendous track record — actually went to Princeton and went to Harvard,” Trump said. “He was a good student at both, but he loves the military. And I think people are starting to see it. So, we’ll be working on his nomination along with a lot of others.”

Welker then asked Trump if he still has “confidence in Pete Hegseth” given the litany of allegations that have been made against him ever since he was nominated to serve as Defense Secretary.

“Yes, I do, I really do,” Trump replied. “He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him through Fox, but I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s basically a military guy. I mean, every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military. He’s a military guy.”

It’s at this point that Welker brought up Hegseth’s alleged drinking problem, which the media have proclaimed through anonymous sources was most prominent during his tenure as president of Concerned Veterans for America.

“You don’t drink yourself,” she began. “You’ve talked about how devastating drinking can be. How concerned are you that the person who you picked for this top job at the Defense Department, at least according to those who’ve worked with him, has struggled with drinking?”

“But I’ve spoken to people that know him very well, and they say he does not have a drinking problem,” Trump promptly responded, shutting down that bogus line of inquiry.

The clip, from an interview set to air Sunday, was published as the Heritage Foundation began collecting signatures from prominent veterans who support Hegseth’s nomination.

The signatures have been added to a letter expressing support for Hegseth, as reported by Fox News.

“As military veterans and patriotic Americans, we are pleased to see an outstanding veteran nominated to lead the Department of Defense,” the letter reads. “Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran who served as an Infantry Officer in the Army National Guard, deploying overseas to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge.”

All this comes amid the reemergence of another letter written in 2016 by Concerned Veterans for America trustee Randy Lair confirming that Hegseth had just then resigned from his post as president of the organization — and that he wasn’t fired for drinking on the job or some such other nonsense.

“The truth is Pete resigned his position as CEO of Concerned Veterans for America as a result of a difference of opinion to the future of the organization and so that he could focus on other endeavors, including his relationship with Fox News,” the letter reads.

“Pete was not terminated by the organization and, in fact, we at CVA worked with him through this difficult decision and mutually agreed the end of 2015 was the best timing for both parties,” it continues.

Lair also defended Hegseth’s military record, which the media have also claimed was marred by excessive drinking.

“As far as Pete’s military service is concerned, we believe his record speaks for itself and it was never an issue with our organization,” he wrote.

The letter resurfaced after the media began running reports claiming that Hegseth’s tenure at Concerned Veterans for America was marred by him being excessively drunk and making a fool of himself.

Hegseth has for his part denied all the allegations against him.

“The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down,” he wrote this week in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal. “It’s a textbook manufactured media takedown. They provide no evidence, no names, and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf. They need to create a bogeyman, because they believe I threaten their institutional insanity. That is the only thing they are right about.”

“Talk to those who served with me in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan or the National Guard. They support me, and I’m honored by that. I have never backed down from a fight and won’t back down from this one. I am grateful President-elect Trump chose me to lead the Defense Department, and I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing with our distinguished senators—not a show trial in the press,” he added.

Vivek Saxena
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