Penelope Hegseth, the mother of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defence, accused her son of mistreating women for years, New York Times reported.
The 2018 email accusation resurfaced as questions about Hegseth’s personal conduct, especially his treatment of women, emerged during his nomination for a top administrative role, which carries significant responsibility, particularly given the military’s strict stance on adultery.
Penelope’s email
In April 2018, Penelope Hegseth sent an email to her son, accusing him of years of mistreatment towards women. The email was written during a turbulent time in the family’s life, as Pete Hegseth was going through a contentious divorce from his second wife, Samantha.
Penelope wrote in the email: “On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself.” She also expressed deep disappointment, saying, “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.”
She described his abusive behavior over the years as “dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling” women.
Despite her harsh words, she ended by reaffirming her love for him later in an apology email. However, the seriousness of her statement raised concerns, especially with Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Pentagon chief.
Apology email
In an interview with ‘The New York Times’ following the publication of the email, Penelope Hegseth defended her son, saying that the accusations were not true and had been written out of anger. She clarified that she had followed up immediately with an apology email, saying she had sent the original message “in anger, with emotion” during a time of personal turmoil.
“It is not true. It has never been true,” she said, defending her son’s character. “I know my son. He is a good father, husband.” She also voiced her frustration with the publication of her original message, calling it “disgusting.”
Her apology email to Pete, sent right after the first message, explained the emotional turmoil she was going through. “If the email damages our relationship further,” she wrote, “so be it.”
In 2018, Penelope publicly praised Pete on Fox News, calling him a good son and lauding his military service on Mother’s Day. “I’m grateful for that, Pete, and proud every day to be your mom,” she said, holding hands with him on set.
Allegations
Questions surrounding Hegseth’s treatment of women had already begun to surface before the release of the email. Hegseth has a known history of infidelity, including divorces from his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, and his second wife, Samantha, which raised concerns about his personal conduct.
His second marriage ended after he fathered a child with a co-worker, Jennifer Rauchet, who would later become his third wife. The divorce from Samantha Hegseth was bitter, with Penelope Hegseth accusing her son of trying to manipulate the situation by “labeling her as ‘unstable’ for your own advantage,” referring to Samantha. “She did not ask for or deserve any of what has come to her by your hand,” Penelope wrote, expressing her dismay at her son’s actions.
Furthermore, a 2017 rape complaint against Hegseth, following an incident at a political conference in Monterey, California, has raised more concerns. Hegseth denies the claim, with his lawyers saying the encounter was consensual and he paid a settlement to protect his job at Fox & Friends.
Hegseth’s supporters, including vice president-elect JD Vance, are working to secure his approval. However, some Republican senators, such as senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who has been vocal about her own experiences of military sexual harassment, have indicated that the allegations will need to be properly investigated.
Conservative roots
Hegseth has often said that he is a Christian who follows conservative family values. During his brief run for the Republican nomination for a Minnesota US Senate seat in 2012, he credited his parents for teaching him those values, saying, “I didn’t learn conservatism out of a book.”
As a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Hegseth was chosen by Trump as the nominee for defence secretary.
“Had I been raised in a family where faith, fidelity and fatherhood were not valued, my choices could have led to family breakdown,” he wrote in an article for the Center of the American Experiment, a nonprofit group focused on family issues.