Gabriel Sherman: “For now, Donald Trump is reportedly standing by Pete Hegseth, his embattled pick for defense secretary, but some Trump transition officials are beginning to doubt whether the Fox News host can survive the controversy.”
“According to two Republicans close to Trump, the transition team is quietly preparing a list of alternative defense secretary candidates should Trump abandon Hegseth. ‘It’s becoming a real possibility,’ one of the sources says. The second source tells me that transition members are frustrated that Hegseth failed to disclose he had paid a financial settlement to a woman who alleged he raped her at a Republican women’s event in 2017.”
Said one source: “People are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest.”
