Pete Hegseth’s alleged drinking worried a number of his former colleagues at Fox News, who claimed that he often smelled of alcohol before going on air, according to a report.
Hegseth, who has been nominated for the role of Defense Secretary by Donald Trump, would complain about being hungover and acted like “the rules didn’t apply to him,” according to the accounts of 10 current and former Fox News employees, who spoke to NBC News.
It comes as Hegseth faces ongoing scrutiny over scandals from his past, centering around his treatment of women, which have the potential to derail his upcoming confirmation as Defense Secretary.
Two of the Fox employees who spoke to NBC said that on more than a dozen occasions during Hegseth’s time as a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, which began in 2017, they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air.
Those same two people, and another coworker, said that he complained often of being hungover while getting ready or on set. Despite this, none said they could recall an instance of Hegseth missing a scheduled appearance.
But, the sources said, Hegseth’s state was a common topic of conversation in the studio. "Everyone would be talking about it behind the scenes before he went on the air,” one of the former Fox News employees said.
Three current employees told NBCHegseth’s drinking had been a concern as recently as when Trump made the announcement that he would be joining the cabinet. Hegseth resigned from his role at Fox following the announcement.
“He’s such a charming guy, but he just acted like the rules didn’t apply to him,” one of the former employees said.
It comes as Hegseth also faced allegations of repeated drunken behavior at official events during his tenure as the chief of Concerned Veterans for America (C.V.A.) which lasted from 2013 to 2016.
According to a report by The New Yorker, which was compiled by several C.V.A. employees and sent to the group’s management in 2015, the pattern of behavior ultimately became an embarrassment to the rest of the staff.
In one particular incident, Hegseth was accused of drunkenly shouting “Kill all Muslims!” in the middle of a bar while serving as the president of a veterans’ group, The New Yorker reported. The alleged incident occurred on May 29, 2015 while on an official tour through Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
“I’ve seen him drunk so many times. I’ve seen him dragged away not a few times but multiple times. To have him at the Pentagon would be scary,” one of the whistleblowers told the outlet.
They added: “When those of us who worked at C.V.A. heard he was being considered for SecDef, it wasn’t ‘No,’ it was ‘Hell No!’”
