Hegseth’s Nomination Fight & U.S. v. Skrmetti | 12.5.24

Summary

Morning Wire Episode Summary: Hegseth’s Nomination Fight & U.S. v. Skrmetti | December 5, 2024

In this episode of Morning Wire, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and co-host Georgia Howe delve into the intense political battles surrounding Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Defense Secretary, the pivotal Supreme Court case U.S. v. Skrmetti concerning Tennessee’s ban on transgender procedures for minors, and the potential dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs under the incoming Trump administration. The discussion is enriched with expert insights, notable quotes, and comprehensive analysis, providing listeners with a thorough understanding of these critical issues.

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1. Pete Hegseth’s Nomination for Defense Secretary

Standing Firm Amid Media Attacks

Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, remains resolute despite relentless criticism from legacy media and questions regarding his qualifications. Georgia Howe opens the segment by highlighting Hegseth’s refusal to back down amidst attacks on his personal history (00:03).

Media Scrutiny and Support

John Bickley addresses the nature of the media attacks, emphasizing their lack of substantiated evidence: “All anonymous, all rumor, nothing sourced, no verification. And they're just going to keep doing it” (00:10). Cabot Phillips questions the extent of Hegseth’s support and whether Trump is contemplating alternative nominees (00:17).

Qualifications Under Fire

Bickley elaborates on the dual fronts of the anti-Hegseth campaign. Initially, critics questioned his qualifications, noting that previous Defense Secretaries were typically high-ranking military officials—not media personalities like Hegseth. However, supporters countered by highlighting his distinguished military service, Princeton education, and nonprofit leadership advocating for veterans (02:15).

Personal Life Allegations

As awareness of Hegseth’s credentials grew, media attacks shifted to his personal life. Bickley details accusations, including a 2017 sexual assault claim and recent anonymous allegations of misconduct and alcoholism. Notably, several coworkers, including co-host Lisa Booth, publicly refuted these claims, calling them “such a disgusting and false smear” (03:00, 03:43).

Family Support and Potential Replacement

The controversy intensified when the New York Times published a 2018 email from Hegseth’s mother during his divorce, containing harsh accusations. However, she later retracted her statements, urging support for her son’s nomination (03:48). Despite these challenges, Hegseth’s mother actively reached out to senators to advocate for his confirmation (04:20).

Trump’s Stance and Future Prospects

Amid growing pressure, reports suggest President Trump is considering alternatives like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Nonetheless, Hegseth remains optimistic, asserting, “Why would I back down? I've always been a fighter. This is personal and passionate for me” (05:02). He emphasizes Trump’s support and his commitment to prioritizing warfighters (06:07).

Conclusion

The nomination battle remains uncertain, with Republican senators’ support wavering and Trump potentially exploring other candidates. Hegseth's steadfastness and Trump’s backing could tilt the scales in his favor, but the outcome remains to be seen (06:15).

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2. Supreme Court Case: U.S. v. Skrmetti

Tennessee’s Transgender Procedures Ban

The Supreme Court addressed Tennessee’s law banning transgender procedures for minors in a significant case, U.S. v. Skrmetti. Georgia Howe introduces the topic, noting that the Court’s decision could have far-reaching implications for state-level transgender rights (00:22).

Oral Arguments and Judicial Perspectives

Daily Wire senior reporter Mary Margaret Olihan provides a detailed account of the oral arguments held on Wednesday. Justice Kavanaugh raised concerns about the law’s impact on male and female sports, while Justice Alito critically assessed the Biden administration’s stance (07:14).

Key Questions and Comparisons

Bickley highlights pivotal questions posed by the justices, such as the fluidity of gender identity and its implications for irreversible medical procedures: “Are there individuals who are born male, assigned male at birth, who at one point identify as female, but then later come to identify as male and likewise for individuals who are assigned female at birth? Are there not such people?” (08:06). Justice Sotomayor drew parallels between medical transitions and other treatments like aspirin, questioning the risk-benefit analysis (09:39).

Public Demonstrations and Advocacy

Producer Regan describes the fervent atmosphere outside the Court, with large groups of pro-transgender and anti-transgender protesters advocating their positions. Personal testimonies, such as that of a mother supporting her daughter’s transition, underscore the deeply personal stakes involved (07:44).

Expected Ruling and Implications

Despite the heated arguments, major media outlets predict that the Supreme Court is likely to uphold Tennessee’s ban. However, the final ruling is anticipated no earlier than June (10:08).

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3. The Decline of DEI Programs

Corporate Retreat from DEI Initiatives

Daily Wire investigative reporter Spencer Lindquist explores the rapid dismantling of DEI programs across major corporations. Companies like Walmart, Home Depot, and others are withdrawing DEI initiatives amid mounting criticism and internal reassessments (10:25).

Activist Influence and Corporate Responses

Spencer highlights activist Robbie Starbuck’s role in spearheading successful anti-DEI campaigns, leading to significant corporate policy changes. Walmart’s recent pledge to cease race and sex-based supplier preferences and stop marketing transgender products to children exemplifies this trend (10:42).

Legal and Regulatory Pressures

Bickley discusses the potential leverage the incoming Trump administration could wield to pressure companies into abandoning DEI programs. Legal expert David Pivtrak explains that some DEI initiatives may violate anti-discrimination laws, providing the Department of Justice (DOJ) with avenues to investigate and enforce compliance (11:45).

High-Profile Cases and Implications

Spencer outlines specific instances of DEI-related discrimination, such as Oracle and IBM’s internship programs that excluded certain racial groups or gender identities. These cases demonstrate the legal vulnerabilities of DEI policies and the possible repercussions companies may face under stricter enforcement (13:17).

Future Outlook

With the DOJ poised to take stringent actions against non-compliant DEI programs, corporations may increasingly distance themselves from such initiatives to avoid legal battles and reputational damage. This shift signifies a broader move away from DEI-focused strategies in the corporate and governmental sectors (13:56).

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Conclusion

This episode of Morning Wire provides an in-depth look into the contentious nomination of Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, the Supreme Court’s deliberation on transgender minors’ rights in Tennessee, and the potential erosion of DEI programs across major organizations. Through expert analysis and firsthand reporting, hosts John Bickley and Georgia Howe deliver a comprehensive narrative on these pressing issues, offering listeners a clear understanding of the evolving political and social landscape.

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Note: Timestamps refer to the provided transcript sections for reference.

Transcript

[Georgia Howe]

Pete Hegseth refuses to back down in his bid for defense secretary despite legacy media attacks on his personal history.

[John Bickley]

All anonymous, all rumor, nothing sourced, no verification. And they're just going to keep doing it.

[Cabot Phillips]

Does he have the necessary support? And is Trump considering a replacement nominee?

[Georgia Howe]

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor in Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, December 5th, and this is Morningwire. The Supreme Court appears to side with Tennessee in a landmark case weighing whether or not states can ban transgender procedures for minors. Much of your the latter part of your opening statement seemed to suggest that there's an outright ban on this treatment, but that's not the case.

[Cabot Phillips]

It's really for minors and DEI may be flaming out as fast as it arrived. We discussed the latest this corporate walk back and why we could soon see many more.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

[Regan]

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[Cabot Phillips]

President Trump's nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, says he has no plans to withdraw, despite attacks from Legacy Media and new reports that Trump may be considering a replacement nominee.

[Georgia Howe]

Here with the details is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. So Cabot Hegseth has become the Cabinet pick, arguably drawing the most attention now from Democrats and the legacy media. What's the latest in this saga?

[John Bickley]

Yeah, there have really been two parts to the anti Hegseth campaign. First, it started with his credentials. Now, historically, defense secretaries have almost always been a general or other high ranking Pentagon official. Hegseth is not. Almost immediately, critics of the pick began referring to him simply as a Fox News host, trying to paint him as wholly unqualified for the job. And while Hegseth was indeed a host on Fox, supporters pointed out that he also graduated from Princeton, served 20 plus years in the military, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan where he was awarded numerous medals, and then ran a large nonprofit advocating for veterans. Now, once Folks became more aware of those credentials, the attacks shifted to focus more on his personal life.

[Georgia Howe]

Right, so tell us about some of these accusations.

[John Bickley]

Well, most notably, a woman claimed that Heth sexually assaulted her back in 2017 at a Republican conference. Hegseth says the incident was consensual, and a police investigation resulted in no charges being filed. More recently, though, legacy media outlets have published a number of stories citing anonymous former coworkers who accused him of sexual misconduct. Others accused him of coming to work drunk. Though it's worth noting a dozen or so co workers of Hegseth, including a few of his co hosts at Fox, refuted those anonymous allegations on the record, calling them totally fabricated. Lisa Booth, for example, who co hosted with Hegseth on Fox, said, quote, not once did this happen. Not once have I heard this from others. This is such a disgusting and false smear.

[Georgia Howe]

So we have anonymous accusations, but on the record refutation.

[John Bickley]

Right.

[Georgia Howe]

But now Hegseth's own mother has been dragged into this saga. What is she saying?

[John Bickley]

Right. The focus on his personal life really came to a fever pitch last week when the New York Times published a private email Hegseth's mother had sent him back in 2018amidst a messy divorce with his then wife. She accused him of, quote, dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing and belittling, among other things. However, in an interview with Fox yesterday morning, she expressed regret for that email, saying she sent a follow up a few hours later, apologizing and assuring the country that her son is the man for the job.

[Georgia Howe]

I want people to look at Pete, judge people, or understand him for who he is today and to disregard the media. That was seven years ago, and most of it is misinformation. Pete is a new person. He's redeemed, forgiveness changed. I think we all are. After seven years, I believe he's the man for the job, Hex.

[John Bickley]

That mother went on to say that she's been personally calling senators, telling her side of the story and encouraging them to support her son's nomination for defense secretary.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, amid all of this media whirlwind, though, there are reports that President Trump is considering a replacement. What do we know about that?

[John Bickley]

Yeah. As the pressure on Hexath has ramped up, a number of Republican senators have reportedly begun to waver on whether they'll vote to confirm him. In light of that possibility, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Trump has begun discussing potential options to replace him, most notably Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was initially on the original SecDef shortlist last month. But there is still a good chance Hexeth survives the firestorm and still wins confirmation. He was at the Capitol yesterday meeting with senators and told reporters, quote, why would I back down? I've always been a fighter. This is personal and passionate for me. Later on, he told Megyn Kelly that President Trump has his back and wants him to continue on. He reiterated the same thing this morning. Hey Pete, I got your back. It's a fight they're coming after you. Get after it. He went on to elaborate on why President Trump nominated him for the position in the first place. You're the man for this moment. I chose you because you're the guy that's going to put the war fighters first. We haven't had that. We need a guy that's kicked down.

[Georgia Howe]

Doors and understands the consequences of war.

[John Bickley]

And why us deterring war, fighting it.

[Georgia Howe]

And winning it is important to him.

[John Bickley]

He gets it. So Hegseth pushing forward in his fight to be the next SecDef. Now we'll wait to see how Republican senators and President Trump respond.

[Georgia Howe]

Yep, sounds like it could go either way at this point. Cabot, thanks for reporting.

[John Bickley]

Anytime.

[Brandon]

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[Georgia Howe]

The Supreme Court heard two and a half hours of oral arguments on Wednesday in the US V. Scmetti dealing with Tennessee's law banning transgender procedures for children.

[Cabot Phillips]

Joining us now is Daily Wire senior reporter Mary Margaret Olihan who was at the court all of Wednesday morning as the oral arguments took place. Hey Mary Margaret. So tell us what you saw.

[Regan]

Hey John. It was absolutely frigid on Wednesday in Washington, but that didn't keep the crowds away. The ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign bust in large groups of pro transgender protesters, but they had competition from the do no Harm group which held its own rally for protecting children. I spoke with a number of pro trans protesters. One mother told me that she began helping her 12 year old daughter transition to be a boy when that girl was still very young. So would you agree that you're primarily responsible for the procedures that your child is going through.

[Georgia Howe]

His father and I are, I guess, because we're his parents.

[Regan]

If he regrets them someday, it's on you, too.

[Georgia Howe]

Yeah, I trust that it's going to be okay. I think I know my child better than, than anybody else at this point, so.

[Regan]

The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, who's been at the forefront of this issue, spoke outside the court yesterday morning.

[John Bickley]

Children have the constitutional right, the human.

[Brandon]

Right, the God given right to live.

[John Bickley]

And grow and learn about themselves and the world without being indoctrinated and exploited by people who reject the fundamental realities of existence. Children have a right to go through phases, to have moments of confusion and discomfort in their own bodies, just like every generation of children before them.

[Cabot Phillips]

Okay, so passion on both sides outside the high court. Let's get to the heart of the arguments. Did the justices offer any clues as to how they were leaning based on their questions?

[Regan]

They did. Justice Kavanaugh repeatedly brought up concerns about how that decision would impact males and girls sports. Justice Alito seemed to dismantle the Biden administration's case in this exchange.

[John Bickley]

Are there individuals who are born male, assigned male at birth, who at one point identify as female, but then later come to identify as male and likewise for individuals who are assigned female at birth? Are there not such people?

[Georgia Howe]

There are such people. I agree with that, Justin.

[John Bickley]

So it's not an immutable characteristic, is it?

[Regan]

On the liberal side, Ketangi Brown Jackson compared the laws protecting kids from trans procedures to bans on interracial marriage.

[Georgia Howe]

The question of can you marry this other person depended upon what your race was. You could marry the other person if it was the same consistent with your race. You couldn't. If you couldn't, I take your law to be doing basically the same thing. You can get these blockers if doing so is consistent with your sex, but not if it's inconsistent. So how are they different?

[Regan]

And in another notable moment, Justice Sotomayor compared the risk of medical transition to other treatments like aspirin.

[John Bickley]

And the question of how many minors have to have their bodies irreparably harmed for unproven benefits is one that is best left. I'm sorry, counselor.

[Georgia Howe]

Every medical treatment has a risk, even taking aspirin.

[Cabot Phillips]

Quite a comparison there. Final question. What was the overarching feeling at the end of the day about which way the court was leaning?

[Regan]

Well, as the sun set on DC Last night, all major media outlets were reporting that the court will likely uphold Tennessee's law. But again, a Ruling isn't expected until June.

[Cabot Phillips]

Mary Margaret, thanks so much for reporting.

[Regan]

Thanks for having me.

[Cabot Phillips]

The diversity, equity and inclusion agenda that was ascendant for several years in academia, government and corporate America may be on its way out.

[Georgia Howe]

Here to discuss is Daily Wire investigative reporter Spencer Lindquist. So, Spencer, what is the evidence that DEI is getting phased out?

[Spencer Lindquist]

So there have been several high profile organizations that have recently backed off of dei. The latest is Walmart. Just last week, that company made a number of different pledges. It said that it was going to stop giving a preference to suppliers on the basis of race and sex. It also said that it would ensure that transgender products were not marketed to children on its website. And they even said they would stop funding the center for Racial Equity. Walmart made the announcement following a campaign from activist Robbie Starbuck, who has also led successful anti DEI campaigns against tractor supply, Home Depot and other name brand companies. Starbucks spoke to Morning Wire about his strategy.

[John Bickley]

When I realized there was a serious problem here, I said, what has been the problem with boycotts in America? Why have they not been successful and how did we get here? And so I had to put together sort of the fact that all of this accelerated after George Floyd, and it was under the noses of a lot of executives who didn't quite realize what they were green lighting. And now they've had four years to experience it. And many of those people have buyer's remorse. And so they just need an excuse to get rid of it because this is essentially a house of cards.

[Georgia Howe]

Now you also have a new report out in the Daily Wire suggesting that the incoming Trump administration could pressure more organizations to drop dei. What leverage would Trump have to make that happen?

[Spencer Lindquist]

So some of these programs might actually be against the law. A series of Daily Wire investigations have documented professional development programs, internships, and job postings that discriminate against white and sometimes against Asian applicants in the name of dei. In some of those cases, legal experts have actually said that these programs are blatantly illegal. And the incoming Trump administration, particularly his attorney general, could take action against these discriminatory DEI programs. I talked with David Pivtrak. He's a lawyer who has active lawsuits against American Express, which allegedly discriminated against white men through its DEI policies. He told me that, quote, the DOJ has a panoply of remedies. It can seek to address the discrimination that results from these DEI programs. The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division could launch investigations to obtain, quote, a wide variety of a company's internal data and documents or file lawsuits to, quote, take depositions of high level executives and even the CEO or board of directors if they were directly involved in implementing these DEI programs. But there's also even more severe measures that the DOJ could take as well. If the Justice Department issued a consent decree, it would allow the agency to, quote, oversee a company's operations for years to come. And pivdirect says that this type of action from the DOJ could incentivize companies to drop their DEI programs altogether.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, are there specific companies that are currently under scrutiny or that you anticipate will be?

[Spencer Lindquist]

So these DEI programs are pretty ubiquitous right now, but there are a few high profile examples. At Oracle, the Daily Wire found that white and Asian students were expressly barred from applying for two different internships. And a similar situation unfolded at IBM. The Daily Wire found that IBM hosted two internships that had discriminatory selection criteria. One was an internship for underrepresented minorities, which barred whites and Asians from applying. And the other, an internship for undergraduate women, barred men from applying unless those men were transgender and identified as women. There's similar discriminatory DEI programs that have also been found at McKinsey and Company, Morgan Stanley, and the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots, among various other corporations.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, even just making a few high profile examples could go a long way. Spencer, thanks for reporting.

[Spencer Lindquist]

Thank you for having me.

[Cabot Phillips]

Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.

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