Yashar Ali called this the "toughest moment so far for Pete Hegseth." I'd call it the most revealing moment so far about the desperation of Senate Democrats in his confirmation hearing.
Tim Kaine, who once ran on the same ticket with Hillary Clinton, suddenly put himself in the position as National Scold On Marital Fidelity. Rather than discuss Hegseth's qualifications for Defense Secretary or the national security strategies of the incoming administration, Kaine decided to spend his seven minutes railing at Hegseth for cheating on his second wife with the woman who would become his third wife.
No, really:
Toughest moment so far for Pete Hegseth:
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 14, 2025
Senator Tim Kaine grilling him on his personal conduct. pic.twitter.com/qZOPWb92Fv
Now imagine if a Republican tried this tactic with a Democrat nominee. We'd hear shrieking about privacy in personal lives, the Emerging Christian Taliban, and character assassination rather than talk about how "tough" this was. Imagine further if a Senate Republican tried this line of questioning with a female nominee, and .... well, it's not hard at all to imagine what reactions that would produce.
By the way, here was Tim Kaine just a few months ago, hanging out with another adulterer while campaigning for the latter's second wife:
Tim Kaine has a lot to say about Pete Hegseth’s conduct during his marriage
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) January 14, 2025
Here’s Tim Kaine campaigning with Doug Emhoff, who - while married - impregnated his nanny and forced her to get an abortion pic.twitter.com/0UJQkjQ3Ti
Yeah ... but that's (D)ifferent!
Kaine then tried to bring up a discredited allegation of sexual assault by wrapping it in a hypothetical. Hegseth refused to play along, but Kaine would not let it go, even though Hegseth hadn't done anything non-consensual. In fact, Kaine kept pointing out that consent wasn't actually an issue, but wanted Hegseth to respond as if it were.
Should we next invite Juanita Broaderick to discuss the nuances of consent? Because that would be very, very interesting indeed.
And all of this took up Kaine's seven minutes of time, which was intended to discuss America's national security and military readiness.
Clearly, Democrats don't take that seriously. They take character assassination more seriously. This is in many ways a replay of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, only without anyone willing to lodge unsupported and vague allegations on the record against a nominee from a Republican president.
If Democrats believe this will restore them to political relevance, they have some hard lessons coming. That's especially true for another embarrassing spectacle in this hearing -- which we'll cover in detail later today.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member