What did Donald Trump do today?

He stood by Pete Hegseth, for now, allegedly.

Since being chosen by Trump to lead the Defense Department, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth has seen a number of stories come to light of embarrassing, disqualifying, or criminal behavior. He was investigated by police when a woman accused him of sexual assault in 2017, and eventually paid her to keep silent about it. His own mother sent him a scathing e-mail in 2018 accusing him of abusing women:

I have tried to keep quiet about your character and behavior, but after listening to the way you made [second wife] Samantha feel today, I cannot stay silent. And as a woman and your mother I feel I must speak out..

You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.

…It’s time for someone (I wish it was a strong man) to stand up to your abusive behavior and call it out, especially against women.

More recently, the New Yorker reported that Hegseth's drinking has caused alarm at several of the jobs he has recently held. According to dossiers compiled by former employers, Hegseth sexually harassed female employees, took co-workers to strip clubs and then tried to get on stage with the dancers, showed up to fundraisers intoxicated, and drunkenly screamed "kill all Muslims" at an event at an Ohio bar. 

That behavior cost Hegseth his job with a nonprofit organization, but he had already signed on as a contributor with Fox News, where his colleagues were also shocked by the extent of his alcohol abuse. NBC reported that Fox News staffers said Hegseth showed up drunk to host his morning show, Fox and Friends Weekend, which went on the air at 6 A.M. The reporting was sourced to ten different Fox employees.

Last night, it was reported that Trump was considering dropping Hegseth, which would be the third failed cabinet-level appointee in a month. This morning, though, Hegseth claimed that he'd spoken with Trump and still had his support. According to Hegseth:

And he told me — the last thing he said to me or two things he said to me when I left his office when he chose me was — besides what he said about being a war fighter we can get into — that was you’re going to need to be tough as shit. You need to be tough as shit. But he paused again as I was walking away and said …‘Hey, Pete, I got your back. It’s a fight. They’re coming after you. Get after it.’

It's entirely possible that this is true, or at least that Trump really did say these things to Hegseth, whether or not he meant them. Trump didn't mention Hegseth at all today, including to confirm or deny Hegseth's version of events. 

Trump is reportedly considering replacing Hegseth with Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Trump has called DeSantis a "sad little man" and suggested that he is a pedophile.

Why does this matter?

• It's bad if the president-elect is picking cabinet members because he saw them on TV.

• A competent administration wouldn't have needed reporters to do their vetting for them.

• An out-of-control alcoholics who needs his mommy to run interference for him is maybe not the best choice for Defense Secretary.