Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is hitting back forcefully at accusations that have been levied against him in recent months by whistleblowers and anonymous sources in the press, saying that it is nothing more than a “coordinated smear campaign.”

“That was clear from moment one,” Mr. Hegseth said when asked by the Armed Services Committee chairman to respond to the allegations. 

“A small handful of anonymous sources were allowed to drive a smear coordinated campaign and agenda about me because our left-wing media in America today, sadly, does not care about the truth,” Mr. Hegseth said. 

The defense secretary nominee also gave an answer that will almost certainly please the audience of one down at Mar-a-Lago, comparing himself to the president-elect. 

“It wasn’t about me. Most of it was about President Donald Trump, who has had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time, and he endured it in incredibly strong ways,” he said. “We, in some ways, knew it was coming. We didn’t understand the depths of the dishonesty that would come with it.”

The top Democrat on the committee, Senator Reed, said in his opening statement that he does not believe Mr. Hegseth is prepared to lead the Pentagon due to the accusations. 

“You are the ninth nominee for secretary of defense that I’ve had the honor of considering as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. I have voted in favor of all your predecessors, including those from the first Trump administration. Unfortunately, you lack the character, the composure, and the competence to hold the position of secretary of defense,” Mr. Reed told Mr. Hegseth at the top of the confirmation hearing. 

In his opening remarks, Mr. Hegseth laid out three goals for the Pentagon should he be confirmed — “Restore the warrior ethos,” “rebuild our military,” and “reestablish deterrence.”

The nominee stated that it was his goal to shift focus, as secretary, to the Indo-Pacific region in order to counter the growing threat of Communist China, rather than double-down on the Middle East region, where Mr. Hegseth himself served multiple combat tours.