With the political news having largely died down over the holidays in favor of travel, Jimmy Carter remembrances, and the New Orleans terror attack, talk of the second Trump transition has subsided, leaving Friday’s Good Morning America to bring it back to the forefront as ABC boasted to viewers they still plan to try and sink Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth.
Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos pivoted from President Biden blocking the sale of U.S. Steel and the speakership fight in the House to confirmations with this comment to ABC’s lead Biden apple polisher, Mary Bruce: “Many of President-Elect Trump’s picks for cabinet positions also facing controversy. Pete Hegseth, the choice for defense secretary, the Senate committee is now digging deeper into his background.”
Bruce shared the network had “learned exclusively that the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee has quietly been reaching out to that veterans organization that Pete Hegseth used to run, appearing to request additional information about those recently reported allegations of a 2017 sexual assault, also those accusations that Hegseth financially mismanaged the group.”
Cue to the dark, scary music!
Bruce had more ominous tunes: “So, you know, no charges were ever filed. Pete Hegseth has denied these claims, but it is a reminder that he certainly still faces a real uphill climb to confirmation.”
Oh, no! A Senate committee wants documents on someone’s employment history!
As one can sniff out here, ABC was trying to make fetch happen, which wasn’t surprising given the 96 percent negative network evening news coverage our Bill D’Agostino found last month in a study of Trump picks Hegseth as well as those for FBI Director (Kash Patel), and Director of National Intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard).
To see the relevant ABC transcript from January 3, click “expand.”
ABC’s Good Morning America
January 3, 2025
7:11 a.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Many of President-Elect Trump’s picks for cabinet positions also facing controversy. Pete Hegseth, the choice for defense secretary, the Senate committee is now digging deeper into his background.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Senate Seeks More Information Before Hegseth Confirmation Hearings]
MARY BRUCE: Yeah, ABC News this morning has learned exclusively that the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee has quietly been reaching out to that veterans organization that Pete Hegseth used to run, appearing to request additional information about those recently reported allegations of a 2017 sexual assault, also those accusations that Hegseth financially mismanaged the group. So, you know, no charges were ever filed. Pete Hegseth has denied these claims, but it is a reminder that he certainly still faces a real uphill climb to confirmation.
