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The co-hosts of "The View" continued their onslaught against Fox host Pete Hegseth, whom Donald Trump has named to lead the Department of Defense. One former Trump aide explained any defense person must be "above reproach" to be successfully confirmed.

The panel began discussing Hegseth's mother, who blasted him in a leaked email. She spoke to Fox about it Wednesday, promising that he wasn't that kind of person she had once criticized for being an abusive personality "anymore."

"Did she just say they're not true anymore?" asked Whoopi Goldberg. "So, that means at some point it was true."

Also Read: 'It's offensive': Multiple senators object to Trump's plan to usher in Pete Hegseth

Hegseth has faced criticism from his Fox colleagues, who said that he had a drinking problem that made it difficult to navigate his hosting of a morning show. They described it to Vanity Fair as "babysitting."

Former Trump communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed out that she was subjected to extensive background checks when she worked as a spokesperson at the Department of Defense.

"While we all expect that bad behavior has made its way into politics — you've had people who have had affairs as presidents and all that — the DOD and secretary of defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff have largely stayed above reproach because of character," said Griffin.

She noted that national security staff and those in the military are "aware that America's enemies are constantly looking at them and looking at things to exploit."

When doing background checks, Griffin said they asked her about her financial debt and whether she gambled or was addicted to pornography.

"They matter because they think could you be blackmailed when you have all this power to make life and death decisions," Griffin explained. "It doesn't matter that much if you had an affair and run the Department of Commerce. Having a questionable record with women and abuse allegations at DOD absolutely matters."

She went on to suggest some better options for the post that she thinks Trump should nominate.

See the video below or at the link here.

A posting on Donald Trump's Truth Social platform that Fox News personality Pete Hegseth might be pushed aside as the Department of Defense secretary set off a furious backlash among supporters of the president-elect.

Late Tuesday both the Wall Street Journal and The Bulwark reported that Hegseth could be out of the running for the Cabinet position after a series of reports about his alleged drinking problems while he worked at Fox News and when he headed up several veterans organizations.

That, in turn, led to reports that Trump has been in talks with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to be tabbed as the new nominee if and when Hegseth either steps aside or is pushed out by allies of Trump.

While Trump seems to have buried the hatchet with the Florida lawmaker, his MAGA supporters are not ready to forgive DeSantis for running against the former president for the 2024 presidential nomination.

In the comments on Truth Social, several suggested the reports on Hegseth are part of a plot by the deep state to install "Republican In Name Only" (RINO) DeSantis in the Cabinet so he can undercut the incoming administration.

As Truth Social ("Activist spirit! I believe in action not words. Straight shooter. I call it like I see it and will tell you so") commenter FreedomBarbie, put it: "Who’s leaking this? It may be true, but we haven’t heard it from DJT. Grain of salt. Still, there should be no more caving to rinos and democrats. DJT should get his picks. We didn’t fight fight fight! To cave cave cave."

"He is a Backstabber! I would not trust him with a 10 foot pole! He should not be in trumps cabinet," raged Ultra tinilovesfamily who Truth Social feed is littered with posts supporting Trump appointee Kash Patel.

JHaas, whose bio states, "God, family, country, Corps and Trump...2/5 for life!' contributed, "Fk that, they already got Gaetz, we secede another and the deep state shtbags will smell blood.. No sir.. Stand strong, that's who we are."

"Cannot be true. DeSanctimonious is an ingrate. He is disloyal. He will back-stab @realDonaldTrump and the country in order to advance. No shame," complained Iilyn who previously posted that Trump is "the most powerful man on earth."

Adliig, whose bio states, "Just a guy that believes in Jesus, personal responsibility and conservative principles," wrote, "I still want to see Hegseth in that role. No charges, and others flat out saying the drunkeness charges are a lie. Would not surprise me if this is another deep-State, Rino operation."

"The six Rinos better vote to confirm Pete or they will get Primaried and replaced…. Elon has already placed All Rinos to get on board or he will Use his Anti-Rino Super PAC to kick them out…" sash007, who avidly re-posts Trump's Truth Social comments, threatened.

Ivinsman, (" Preferred pronoun: MAGA"), added, "I’m sick & tired of seeing the same RINO’s on the list of Trump back stabbers . Easy pickings for a MAGA candidate to challenge & replace them their next go- around. Of course Mitch will be put out to pasture by then anyway."

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the world's most powerful military, has come under fire after multiple reports have unearthed claims of drunken strip-club antics and multiple alleged instances of showing up to work while intoxicated.

All of this has put his nomination to lead the Department of Defense in serious doubt, but Hegseth issued a defiant post on X Wednesday morning informing his critics that he's not backing down.

"I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers," he wrote. "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 truth. Our warriors never back down, and neither will I."

Many observers, however, were quick to dismiss Hegseth's show of bravado given that damning new allegations about his behavior, including sources who have worked at both Fox News and the right-wing Concerned Veterans for America organization, keep leaking dirt on him.

"This is the last gasp, I think," observed journalist Chris Cilizza. "Feels almost over."

"We recognize the damage that the two of you can do, and we are repulsed by you," wrote X user Greg Camp. "Don't confuse that for fear of you."

Former Republican lawmaker Joe Walsh expressed disgust that Hegseth wasn't taking any responsibility for his actions.

"This is what Trump has taught his followers," he wrote. "Never admit wrongdoing, never apologize, never express any shame for anything bad you’ve done. Trump is humanly incapable of shame. His followers have learned from him. Hey Pete, undergo an FBI background check tough guy."

Progressive commentator Mehdi Hassan, meanwhile, took issue with Hegseth's claim that supporting him was a blow against so-called "warmongers."

"'Warmongers'?" he questioned. "Hegseth was once a big backer of the Iraq war. He has also suggested a pre-emptive strike on North Korea."

Another X user responded to Hegseth simply by posting video of the Hindenburg crashing.

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As part of a campaign to salvage the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Donald Trump's secretary of defense, the mother of the embattled former Fox News personality made an appearance Fox on Wednesday morning in an attempt to explain away an email she wrote where she called her son a serial abuser of women.

Over the weekend, the New York Times published the leaked email where Penelope Hegseth wrote, "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. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth."

On Wednesday morning she stated she wrote the email in haste while attacking the Times for publishing, adding that the Times neglected to publish her follow-up email two hours later apologizing to her son and then dismissed multiple new accounts of her son's alleged drunken carousing.

ALSO READ: Will Trump back the FBI’s battle against domestic extremists? He won’t say.

Speaking with Fox & Friends' Steve Doocy, Penelope Hegseth complained, "They call you and threaten you. They say ‘Unless you make a statement, we will publish it as is.' I think that’s a despicable way to treat anyone.”

After sharing the clip on MSNBC"s "Morning Joe," co-host Mika Brzezinski had a skeptical look on her face as Joe Scarborough commented, "I will say a few things here though. First of all, she attacked the New York Times and said, 'Well, nobody's seen that apology.' The New York Times asked her when she said there was an apology email to send them that, and they would print it, and she could have shown that apology email on Fox News –– she did not."

"She also, when she was asked how the New York Times got this -- because she was attacking the New York Times –– she also didn't come straight forward on that when the New York Times suggested that she had forwarded it to a third party who then obviously released it," he added.

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A masked man shot and killed the CEO of UnitedHealth outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan, according to reports

Insurance executive Brian Thompson had arrived around 6:46 a.m. at the Hilton Hotel for a conference when a gunman who had allegedly been lying in wait for him opened fire and then fled, reported the New York Post.

The 50-year-old Thompson was rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition but was later pronounced dead, police said.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Senate Dems consider whether Biden should ‘clear the slate’ and pardon Trump

The suspect was described as a white man wearing a cream-colored jacket, black face mask and black-and-white sneakers, and investigators said he was also carrying a grey backpack.

The shooter hadn't been a guest at the hotel, but it's not clear whether he had other business there.

The suspect fled though a nearby alley and then fled the scene on a bicycle, and he remains at large, according to multiple reports.

Donald Trump has used a private company to perform background checks on some of his appointees to serve in his Cabinet and refused to sign an agreement that he would let the FBI do the checks.

That ended Tuesday when Trump's transition team finally signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice, agreeing to allow the FBI to conduct background checks, reported legal analyst Aaron Parnas on Bluesky.

ALSO READ: Will Trump back the FBI’s battle against domestic extremists? He won’t say.

Background checks look into not only the history of a possible staffer or nominee but also investigate whether any foreign government could manipulate an appointee with blackmail.

NBC News reported in 2019 that top Trump adviser Jared Kushner didn't pass his FBI background check twice over questions about his businesses and foreign contacts.

"Kushner's was one of at least 30 cases in which [former Pentagon official Carl] Kline overruled career security experts and approved a top-secret clearance for incoming Trump officials despite unfavorable information," two sources told NBC at the time.