CNN’s senior political commentator Scott Jennings said Democratic senators’ “mud-in-the-box” strategy backfired during Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.
The hearing included Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine accusing Hegseth of extramarital affairs, and Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand giving the candidate an eight-minute lecture on women serving in the military. Ta. Jennings praised Hegseth’s calmness on CNN News Central, describing him as “calm, cool, cool-headed,” but said the Democratic senator’s actions could potentially lead to Hegseth’s confirmation. He argued that it is highly likely that this increased the (Related: Exclusive: New ad targeting Joni Ernst heats up Hegseth approval battle)
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“Long story short, I think Pete Hegseth kicked their butts today. I mean, it wasn’t even close. They didn’t put any gloves on Hegseth. Make no mistake. Calm, cool, collected. I mean, it wasn’t even close. Before it even started, there was a Code Pink-like freak show of protesters trying to disrupt the hearing,” Jennings said. “By the way, this is the Democratic base and probably explains why the Democrats on the committee acted so strangely and unprofessionally. I was appalled by some of it.”
“So Tim Kaine sounded like a sexual pervert in his cross-examination of Pete Hegseth. [Connecticut Sen. Richard] Blumenthal lied about serving in Vietnam and questioned Hegseth’s qualifications. you had [New York Sen. Kirsten] Gillibrand, you had [Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth] Warren, you had [Hawaii Sen. Mazie] “Hirono is calmly ranting about things,” he continued. “[Maine Sen.] Angus King clearly doesn’t understand what it’s like to fight terrorism. Over and over again. Hegseth was calm about this rambling question. They made him look good today. After today’s ugly Democratic fight, it will be difficult for Republicans to vote against Hegseth. ”
Additionally, Democratic Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth yelled at Hegseth as he tried to answer her questions about the audit during the hearing.
“Have you ever led an audit of any organization? Yes or no? I don’t want a long answer. Yes or no, have you ever led an audit of an organization you were responsible for? ?” asked Duckworth.
“Senator, in both organizations I’ve run, we’ve always been completely fiscally responsible for the money we have,” Hegseth responded.
The defense secretary nominee added that his organizational leadership was “totally mischaracterized,” but Duckworth continued speaking, ranting.
“Yes or no, did you lead an audit? Yes or no, did you lead an audit? Yes or no? What are you afraid of?” the senator asked. “You can’t answer this question? Yes or no. Did you lead the audit? You don’t know the answer to this?”
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