Pete Hegseth says he will 'never back down' as rumour of being swapped with Ron DeSantis floats

President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth shared an impassioned post, saying he will not ‘back down’ amid rumours that he will be replaced by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. On Wednesday, Hegseth shared a post on X, formally known as Twitter, emphasising that he will not step out of the contention.

The post came a day after reports emerged that Trump may swap out Hegseth with DeSantis. A source told NBC News that the Florida governor ‘is very much in contention’ for the post. Hegseth has been embroiled in several controversies, including allegations of sexual assault and extramarital affairs.

“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers. The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of [Donald Trump] – and me. So they smear with/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want the truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I,” Hegseth wrote on X on Wednesday morning.

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Hegseth says Trump asked him to ‘keep fighting’

Shortly after the post, the 44-year-old reiterated to the reporters that Trump has himself encouraged him to “keep fighting”. “I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said, keep going, keep fighting,” he said. “Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter," the former Fox News presenter averred, NBC News reported.

Later, Hegseth sat down with Megyn Kelly for an interview on her SiriusXM show and lambasted the criticism he had received. “We’re going to fight like hell. There’s no reason to back down. Why would we back down?” Hegseth reiterated. Asked if he’s being “Kavanaughed”, a reference to the 2018 Supreme Court nomination of and backlash to Brett Kavanaugh, Hegseth claimed that people are “making things” about him.

“Kavanaugh stood up and he fought and he won and hopefully Republicans have learned that lesson," he added. While Hegseth was already facing a plethora of allegations, the New Yorker reported whistleblower accusations that he was forced out of leadership roles in two military veteran organisations following allegations of financial mismanagement, aggressive drunkenness and sexist behaviour. When asked whether he has an alcohol problem, the former Fox News host told reporters that he wouldn’t “dignify that with a response”.

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Last week, the New York Times shared a 2018 email from Penelope Hegseth, his mother, accusing her son of routinely mistreating women and displaying a lack of character. “You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego,” she wrote in the email.

Penelope eventually walked back on the remarks she made six years ago and asked Hegseth’s supporters to stand by him. “We all believe in him. We really believe that he is not the man he was seven years ago. I’m not that mother and I hope people will hear that story today and the truth of that story,” she told Fox News. “I am here to tell the truth. To tell the truth to the American people and tell the truth to senators on the Hill, especially female senators. I really hope that you will not listen to the media and you will listen to Pete," she added.

Meanwhile, Vice President-elect JD Vance also came to Hegseth’s defence on Wednesday morning, noting Penelope Hegseth’s appearance on Fox & Friends and telling followers on X that “the media never talks about the apology because they’re trying to destroy him, not tell the truth”.