Pete Hegseth “Does Not Have A Drinking Problem,” Trump Tells ‘Meet The Press’; Troubled Defense Secretary Nominee Will Be Confirmed, POTUS-Elect Asserts

deadline.com:

Despite a boatload of evidence of past booze-ups plus inappropriate and reckless behavior, Donald Trump says his Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth “does not have a drinking problem.”  “I’ve spoken to people that know him very well,” Trump also stated. “A lot of senators call me up saying he’s fantastic,” he went on to say, as the Beltway whispering campaign has ex-Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Hegseth lacks five or six necessary Senate votes to make it to the Pentagon top job.

The teetotaler former and future POTUS made the remark in just released excerpts of an interview with Meet the Press scheduled to air on December 8.

Filmed today at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the comments come as Hegseth was back up on Capitol Hill most of this week meeting with GOP Senators in the hopes of salvaging his savaged nomination and achieving confirmation.

In exposes by the New Yorker and others, as well as sources at Fox News itself and the nominee’s own mother, Hegseth’s excessive drinking, an alleged sexual assault, more mistreatment of women and limited leadership skills have been in the spotlight.