Newsmax Host Says Pete Hegseth Is ‘Blackmailable’ With ‘Serious Baggage’

Pete Hegseth’s bid for defense secretary is so radioactive that even a Newsmax host who once worked for Fox News like Hegseth is railing against it. (Watch the videos below.)

Greg Kelly on Thursday called Hegseth “blackmailable” after previously noting his “serious baggage.” He even suggested the problematic Matt Gaetz was more deserving of the attorney general nomination, which Gaetz later rejected as objections to him mounted.

What’s more, Kelly uncharacteristically took issue with President-elect Donald Trump for nominating Hegseth in the first place.

“I love President Trump, but he’s not infallible,” Kelly explained. “And from time to time, you know, personnel mistakes will be made.”

Despite disagreeing with Hegseth’s support of the Iraq War, Kelly was prepared to back him until he heard that Hegseth agreed to pay a woman who accused him of sexual assault, although he denied wrongdoing.

“I was once accused of sexual assault, falsely,” Kelly said. “I would never in a billion years pay that person a dime. That doesn’t sound like a fighter. That sounds like somebody who’s blackmailable. And I’m not comfortable with that individual being the secretary of defense.”