Pete Hegseth struggled repeatedly throughout his confirmation hearing, but the scandal-plagued former Fox News host who Donald Trump tapped to lead the Pentagon faced an especially difficult line of questioning from Sen. Tim Kaine.
The Virginia Democrat, more so than his colleagues, focused attention on some of Hegseth’s personal scandals, including allegations of adultery, sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse. Soon after, Sen. Markwayne Mullin tried to defend the prospective nominee in an unusual way. This was the line the Oklahoma Republican pushed during the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing:
[Kaine] starts bringing up the fact that what if you showed up drunk to your job? How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? And don’t tell me you haven’t seen it, because I know you have. And then how many senators do you know have gotten a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down?
As a rule, one might expect Hegseth’s GOP allies to argue, especially in public, that the prospective nominee has not struggled with excessive drinking. Mullin apparently thought it’d be a good idea to go in the opposite direction: The Oklahoman described it as a “fact” that Hegseth “showed up drunk” while on the job.
But in the next breath, Mullin seemed to suggest that Hegseth’s alleged alcohol abuse is unimportant because, by his telling, he’s seen senators drunk while on the job, too.
In other words, as far as the Senate Republican is concerned, there’s no point in trying to hold a Pentagon secretary to a higher standard because Mullin has seen politicians fail to meet those same standards.
I can see the placards now: “Vote to confirm Hegseth! He’s about as bad as members of Congress who drink too much and cheat on their wives!”
Hours later, Mullin sat down with CNN’s Kaitlin Collins and elaborated on the point. “What I was trying to get to is, if you’re capable of doing your job, and you’re able to still drink on the job or late in the evening, then don’t tell me that Pete can’t,” the senator said.
I still don’t see how this is supposed to make anyone feel more confident in Hegseth’s qualifications. As part of the same on-air exchange, Mullin added, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, expecting different results. And we keep recycling the same type of people as a secretary of defense. And where have they got us? Nowhere.” This was hardly any better. In effect, the GOP senator argued that the country has had qualified Pentagon chiefs, which in Mullin’s mind has gotten us “nowhere,” so it’s time to go with an unqualified defense secretary. The idea that the civilian leadership of the armed forces has gotten us “nowhere” is bizarre: The United States has the strongest and most capable military on the planet. Why put that preeminence in jeopardy with a prospective nominee who’s obviously unfit for the job?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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