U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said on Sunday that he considered his questions regarding the personal character of Pete Hegseth, who President Donald Trump nominated to serve as Secretary of Defense, to be his best shot at persuading Republican senators against confirming the veteran and former Fox News host.
In an appearance on “Face the Nation,” Kaine said that Republicans in the Senate tend to shy away from presidential nominations who may seem unqualified, or who have serious moral failings, and pointing to the example of former Representative Matt Gaetz’s decision to withdraw his acceptance of Trump’s nomination for him to serve as Attorney General, said he decided to use such concerns against Hegseth.
“My observation of my Republican colleagues is the only reason they ever vote no on a nominee is either a belief of gross incompetence, in terms of qualifications, or serious character deficit,” Kaine told host Margaret Brennan. “That’s why Matt Gaetz withdrew, because the Senate Republicans felt, on both of those counts, he was a nonstarter.”
Kaine asked Hegseth multiple personal questions, including questions probing the circumstances which led to the birth of his 7-year-old daughter, sparking outcry from social media users.
According to Kaine, his questions about Hegseth’s alleged moral failings, “are the kinds of things that might effect how Republicans view this, if not in the committee, possibly on the floor. We’ll see.”
Pressed on why the senator did not ask Hegseth about his positions on personnel and foreign policy, Kaine blamed Hegseth for declining to meet with Democratic senators.
“I think if you look at the entire hearing, a number of his views were put on the table. I had seven minutes,” said Kaine. “It was so unusual to have a Secretary of Defense nominee refuse to even meet with any of the Democratic members of the committee, except the chairman.”
He later elaborated, “you only have seven minutes,” which means Democrats, “divided up topics.”
Kaine told Brennan, “I asked him about what I consider to be glaring faults of character, other members of the committee asked him about positions on strategy, the role of women in combat, whether he is qualified to run an organization of the side of the Pentagon, overall I’m hearing we put a lot of material on the table for folks to consider.”
Others were less convinced, including CNN senior political Scott Jennings, who suggested Hegseth’s confirmation hearing backfired on Democrats.
“I mean, it wasn’t even close. They didn’t lay a glove on Hegseth. No mistakes. Calm, cool, collected,” said Jennings. ”
“We are likely to act on day one and he’ll get a strong, bipartisan vote,” said Kaine. “I mean, Tim Kaine sounded like a sex pervert in his questioning of Pete Hegseth.”
While the senator suggested Democrats are unified in their opposition to Hegseth, he nonetheless acknowledged that former Senator Marco Rubio is on track to be confirmed.
Virginia’s junior senator received national recognition after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton selected him as her vice presidential nominee in 2016. He recently won reelection by about 8 percent of the vote, about half of his margin of victory in 2018.
Watch Kaine’s full remarks:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Tim Kaine” by Tim Kaine. Photo “Pete Hegseth” by Pete Hegseth.Â
