Fox News Is Acting Like Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Exist

If you turn on Fox News, you won’t see or hear much about Pete Hegseth, the longtime Fox anchor turned Trump nominee to lead the Department of Defense.

While Hegseth has been publicly excoriated this month for allegations of rape, sexual harassment, and misconduct and repeated drunkenness on the job, his former employer is trying its best to look the other way.

CNN analyst Brian Stelter reported that the conservative media hegemon that employed Hegseth for more than 10 years has yet to discuss the multiple allegations that its former employee is embroiled in, according to SnapStream and TVEyes database searches.

“What’s a media outlet supposed to do when its longtime host is picked to run the Pentagon, and then a series of eyebrow-raising news stories trigger doubts about his appointment?” Stelter inquired on X. “If you’re Fox News, evidently, you just pretend the stories don’t exist.”

Stelter went on to note that there were multiple moments on Fox News programming in which Hegseth’s allegations were raised but then quickly objected to or moved on from.

“On Monday’s edition of Special Report, Chad Pergram said Hegseth’s confirmation ‘could be a problem’ because ‘he faces problems about his personal conduct.’ What problems? Pergram didn’t say. Neither has anyone else on Fox,” Stelter said.

This lack of coverage is a blatant attempt at damage control from one of the most biased media conglomerates we have. Hegseth’s team has described the allegations as “outlandish.” Their impact on his nomination remains to be seen.