← The Megyn Kelly Show
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
01:01:49
Megyn Kelly opens the show live from Washington, D.C. after attending Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing by discussing what she observed, why she thinks Hegseth will be confirmed easily, and the terrible performance by Democratic women. Then The Daily Wire's Michael Knowles, host of The Michael Knowles Show, to talk about Senator Tim Kaine's outrageous questions to Hegseth during the confirmation hearing on domestic violence and assault allegations, his hypocrisy after campaigning with Bill Clinton and Doug Emhoff, Sen. Mazie Hirono's embarrassing questions of Hegseth, the screechy performance by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and more. Then military veterans Dakota Meyer and Rob O'Neill join to give their perspective on Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, the terrible treatment of Hegseth by Democratic senators, the way he was able to push back against the questions, the challenges the military is facing including wokeness, the need for real accountability for leadership failures, Hegseth'...
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- [00:00]
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- [00:31]
Megyn Kelly
Welcome to the Megyn Kelly show, live on Sirius XM channel 111, every weekday at noon East. Hey, everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to the Megyn Kelly show coming to you today from Washington, D.C. where we just attended the Senate confirmation hearing of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. We've got the whole hearing covered, gavel to gavel for you today. We're going to be joined in a Second by Rob O'Neill and Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor winner, in just a bit. And Michael Knowles will be here to kick things off in two seconds. But first, just want to give you my, my overall thoughts. No one laid a glove on him.
- [01:13]
Rob O'Neill
He's good.
- [01:14]
Megyn Kelly
He's got this. I have zero doubts now that he will be confirmed. Joni Ernst was the big question mark and she was great today. She was very nice in her questioning of him, very respectful. That's not a no vote. No way. And you know, this is just the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has got to, he'll get out of committee. And, but like she was the big pivotal vote. Even if Trump is Gonna lose, potentially McConnell, potentially Murkowski and Collins, which now they're saying he might not. I don't think Pete Hegseth has trouble. I think he's going to get confirmed and I don't think anybody touched him. And really, to me, the story of the day was how some of these Democrat senators embarrass themselves trying to. I was humiliated for some. Why do the women always have to be so shitty? Why do the women have to be like these hysterical fools? Why can't they be more dignified? You know, like, you could lay gloves on him. I mean, Tim Kaine was the worst, I should say that up front, the worst, the most disgusting, I should say. But he wasn't like an hysteric. Maisie Hirono is So dumb. I can't believe she's a US Senator. Kristin Gillibrand was like, women can be in combat. You've hurt our feelings. It was like, oh, my God, you are undermining the very cause that I know you so desperately want to promote right now. So I was embarrassed for them. I was embarrassed for my sex and how they were behaving today. Then there was Slotkin, who's the newest Democrat over on the left side. And while her background sounded impressive, she'd been with the CIA and so on. She was so annoying. Oh, I know you've genuflected. Okay. You've done your genuflection to Donald Trump. Like, everyone was just, there's a way of doing cross examination where you don't wind up the least likable between the person you're crossing and yourself. And obviously these people, most of them haven't done it. Like, you can tell the difference. You know, like, you see a Trey Gowdy cross examination, you think he's the. He's the man. Like, that guy knows what he's doing. You see these people try to do it. You're like, are you trying to make me hate you? Like, I'm not inclined to hate you just because you're a Dem or against Pete. You're just behaving like a prick. Anyway, before I bring in Michael, just want to say, so I went there today. I've never. I've never gone to a Senate confirmation hearing as, like, a regular person as opposed to as a member of the press. I did it because the Hegseth invited me and I said, you know what? This would be a great experience for me for a couple of reasons. Number one, I do support Pete Hegseth and am very happy to telegraph to the world that I do and that I hope he gets through. And if my sitting there in any way telegraphs to people who need it to be telegraphed, that it would be a good thing to support him and that I think the allegations against him are bullshit. Great, I'll do it. Fine. But number two, I did think it would be a fascinating experience for me too, having been on the other side so many times, not as a senator, but as a member of the media, just covering these things to see what it's like to be in the middle of it all. And my takeaway is it's very, very boring. You had to sit there from 9:30 straight. We got out at 2, no breaks. Well, some kept it kind of exciting for the most part. It was like, especially these Democrat senators who just wanna hear themselves talk. You know, the Republicans actually asked him questions that would help us get to know him a bit. The Dems for the most part just grandstanded and that was annoying. It's like fine, it was a freezing cold room. It doesn't really make you wanna run out and run for Senate, I'll say that. So Chris Murphy of Connecticut, you should be feeling good cuz I'm less inclined to take your job now, but when I decide to take it, it will be mine because you're a disaster. It was just. Did we really learn anything or was it all just like an exercise in preening right, mostly on the Dem side and the Republicans in earnest trying to search for some answers on what Pete's gonna do inside defense. That would be different now. I enjoyed that. Anyway, enough about me. I think he's getting through. I think he did his job. And one top Democrat senator told me he thought that this was going to be the toughest hearing for Trump's nominees. Like worse than rfkj, worse than Tulsi. So we'll see if that's true. Trump should be feeling great right now. Cause my prediction is Pete will have no problems bringing in now Michael Knowles. He's host of the Michael Knowles show on the Daily Wire. Did you know that American homeowners nationwide have over $32 trillion in equity? And cybercriminals are targeting it right now with a growing scam the FBI calls house station, house alarms, doorbell cams, deadbolts. They're not gonna work against these thieves because they're not after your stuff, they're after your home equity. If your title is not being monitored, scammers can transfer the title of your home into their name, then take out loans against it or even sell it behind your back. The best way to protect your equity is with triple lock protection from home title lock. Triple lock protection is 247 monitoring and God forbid if the worst happens, restoration services at no out of pocket cost to you. When was the last time you checked on your title? Likely never. And that's exactly what scammers are counting on. Make sure you're not already a victim. You can get a free title history report and a 30 day free trial of triple lock protection today by going to hometitlelock.com and using the promo code Megan or just click on the link in the description. That's hometitlelock.com promo code M E G Y N hometitlelock.com Michael Knowles. Did any one of these senators jump out to you more than in another.
- [07:09]
Michael Knowles
They all jumped out of the screen at me and made me turn down my earpieces because of how shrill and awful they were. But in terms of impressing me in their questioning, absolutely not. Pete did even better than I thought he would do. As you say, Megan, they didn't lay a glove on him. Pete Hegseth will be the next Secretary of Defense. People had questions about Pete's qualifications for the pentag going in. I don't think people really have questions about that right now. I think, in fact, the result of this hearing is that people have questions about the qualifications of these Democrat senators. It was humiliating. They went absolutely nowhere. So Pete was the first confirmation hearing and many people were suggesting he would be one of the more difficult. Notice, though, how these hearings have been scheduled. It opened up with Pete and then all the rest of them. Today, tomorrow, Thursday were relatively easy. These are kind of shoo in people, in terms of Tulsi, in terms of Bobby Kennedy, in terms of Cash Patel. Some of the more controversial nominees, you'll notice that they were pushed a little bit later in the process. I think Pete Hegseth was the canary in the coal mine. I think that the Trump team wanted to see how much pushback they would get from the U.S. senators. Pete Absolutely knocked them down. It was a complete strike down the bowling alley. Not one of them was left standing afterwards. So not only does this bode very well for Pete, and not only does this bode very well for the shoo in nominees that Trump has coming up, but I think even the more controversial ones are going to make it through a major, major win for the Trump transition.
- [08:44]
Megyn Kelly
Okay. There wasn't anything more disgusting today than Tim Kaine. Tim Kaine, who literally pulled out the old, how long have you been beating your wife? I mean, it was stunning. We know the allegations against Pete. We know that Pete has been a serial cheater on his wives. That is known. Okay, so that's fair game. I guess if you want to go there, you can go there. You could go with the anonymous, you know, the alleged rape accuser. Her story fell apart. It was telling that pretty much. Nobody really zeroed in too much on that one. But how long have you been beating your wife? Is defamatory. Not literally, because you can't sue senators for what they're saying in this context. But my point is that was so below the belt for Tim Kaine. Let's just take a listen to some of Tim Kaine today.
- [09:37]
Dakota Meyer
At that time, you were still married to your Second wife, correct? I believe so. And you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife, correct? Senator, I was falsely charged, fully investigated, and completely cleared. So you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime. That's your definition of cleared? You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would stand here and say, you're completely cleared. Senator. Hurt child's name is Gwendolyn Hope Hegseth, and she's a child of God, and she's seven years old, and she was. And you cheated on the mother of that child less than two months after that daughter was born, didn't you? Those were false charges. Well, no. Fully investigated, and I was completely cleared. And I am so grateful for the marriage I have to this.
- [10:31]
Michael Knowles
Now.
- [10:31]
Dakota Meyer
You've admitted me. You've admitted that you had sex at that hotel in October 2017. Now, if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense, wouldn't it? It was a false claim then and a false claim now. If it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense, wouldn't it? That was a false claim. So you can. Talking about a hypothetical. So you can't tell me whether someone who has committed a sexual assault is disqualified from being Secretary of Defense. Senator, I know in my instance, and I'm talking about my instance only, it was a false claim. But I assume that in each of your weddings, you've pledged to be faithful to your wife. You've taken an oath to do that, haven't you, Senator, as I've acknowledged to everyone in this committee, not a perfect person. Not claiming to be, but now, I just asked a simple question. You've taken an oath, like you would take an oath to be Secretary of Defense in all of your weddings, to be faithful to your wife. Is that correct? I have failed in things in my life, and thankfully, I'm redeemed by my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
- [11:36]
Megyn Kelly
Okay, I will get to the domestic violence accusation in a second because that was the wrong sound bite. But it is a relevant soundbite that we want to get to. This guy with his holier than thou on the cheating allegations. And what he did was Hillary Clinton's running mate.
- [11:57]
Rob O'Neill
Yeah. Yeah.
- [11:58]
Megyn Kelly
Okay. So this man was fine with Bill Clinton, right? This man who wants us to believe any extramarital activity is abhorrent to him. He's disgusted by it. That's the same Tim Kaine, Right. We're talking about the same Bill Clinton. No problem, fine. But as president. Right. Or Hillary too. But this is a bridge too far. Pete Hegseth, even after he's admitted to being unfaithful in his marriages and then getting on the straight and narrow, this is the guy. Look at him. Look at him with his head on Bill Clinton's shoulder. He loves Bill Clinton. Accused by sexual assault or rape by how many women, how many affairs has he had on Hillary Clinton? And he wants to get out there and lecture us on Pete Hegseth, Michael Knowles.
- [12:50]
Michael Knowles
It was a complete joke. So it was fitting that Tim Kaine looked like Jack Nicholson's Joker from the Tim Burton Batman. Someone needed to hand that man a comb before he walked into the hearings. And he goes there with that wild look on his face and he says, you think you're cleared just because you were cleared of charges against you. To which Pete Hegseth should. He didn't say anything. He just said, yeah, that's literally what it means, Senator. But then he goes on, as you say, he's preening about this. This is a man that we've only ever heard of because of his political alliance with the Clintons. This is also a man who voted in federal law to abolish the definition of marriage. So listen, I'm gratified that Tim Kaine has had this sudden change of heart and he now takes so seriously the sanctity of marriage. And also, I'll give Tim Kaine credit. His attack on Pete Hegseth's personal life was by far the strongest of any of the similar attempted attacks from the other Democrat senators. And the fact that Keynes was the strongest shows you just how weak it was. But the rest of them, Elizabeth Warren, Gillibrand, for goodness sakes, Maisie Hirono, they didn't even come close. So the Democrats came out there. Tammy Duckworth, give me a break. It was really, really weak. And so I'm actually surprised because knowing that Pete's was going to be the first confirmation hearing, the canary in the coal mine, I expected the Democrats to make this Kavanaugh 2.0. However, Pete Hegseth had a real advantage going into this hearing, which is that people thought because he's a good looking guy who smiles well and did a morning TV show, people thought that this guy was kind of dumb or incompetent. And they failed to look at his resume, which kept coming up today to realize he's extremely educated, he has served his country honorably, he's been under fire literally on many occasions. And he was not going to be pushed around by Kristen Gillibrand or Elizabeth Warren or. Certainly not. Tim Kaine looked from the perspective of Pete, it looked like he was shooting fish in a barrel.
- [14:55]
Megyn Kelly
Okay, I just want to say one more thing about Tim Kean. All right? So first of all, not only was he running for office with Hillary Clinton, he was totally fine with the Clinton's behavior. No problem whatsoever. But Pete Hegseth is a bridge too far for him. Okay, fine. But he was campaigning with Doug Emhoff after the allegations against Doug Emhoff about banging the nanny while still married to his first wife. Allegedly. Well, impregnating said nanny. And then she lost the baby somehow and abusing some other girlfriend by slamming her in the face. Tim Kaine out there with Doug Emhoff. Yeah. Let's go blue. That's. No, but Pete Hegseth is a disgusting dirtbag who little Tim Kane can't stand. This is like how it just oozed out of my. Like you're watching it. You're like, disdain is oozing out of my pores. Like, I have to tell you, Michael, it's very hard, especially for someone in my position or your position, to sit in there and not stand up and start answering the questions like, are you fucking kidding me? Tim Kaine, take a seat. It was very, very hard. And then I've got to get to point number two on Tim Kaine. I know the allegations against Pete backward and forward. Trust me, I have researched them all. I did a comprehensive interview with the guy where we went over every single one. Beating his wife is not on the list. And the nerve of Tim Kaine to come out there and throw it out there. Watch.
- [16:26]
Dakota Meyer
Did you ever engage in any acts of physical violence against any of your wives, Senator? Absolutely not. But you would agree with me that if someone had committed physical violence against the spouse, that would be disqualifying to serve as Secretary of Defense, Correct, Senator? Absolutely not. Have I ever done that? You would agree that that would be a disqualifying offense, would you not, Senator? You're talking about a hypothetical. I don't think it's a hypothetical. Violence against spouses occurs every day. And if you as a leader are not capable of saying that physical violence against a spouse should be a disqualifying fact for being secretary of the most powerful nation in the world, you're demonstrating an astonishing lack of judgment.
- [17:13]
Megyn Kelly
He. He didn't seem to care about Doug Emhoff's violence against women, which actually is backed up By a whole report by an attorney who was his girlfriend, who. She filed it anonymously, but she filed it in the Daily Mail. What is he talking about? What is this? This is just a blatant character assassination attempt.
- [17:32]
Michael Knowles
Meghan, is it wrong that I'm most scandalized in that stupid question by the inability of a sitting U.S. senator to. To know what a hypothetical is? Tim Kaine said if such and such occurred, that would be disqualifying. Right. And Pete rightly said, senator, you're asking me to engage in a hypothetical. And Tim Kaine, with this unearned haughtiness, says, ha, ha. I don't think that's a hypothetical. It's literally a hypothetical. That's how the English language works. That is not up for debate, Senator. You know, this is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body in the world. These people have a loose grasp on the English language. We haven't even gotten to Maisie Hirono yet. No serious country would ever have Maisie Hirono as a senator. It was appalling, Meghan.
- [18:20]
Megyn Kelly
No serious country would have her, and yet we do. She was an embarrassment. Here's a little sampling of her. Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement relating to this kind of conduct?
- [18:34]
Dakota Meyer
Senator, I was falsely accused in October of 2017. It was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared.
- [18:44]
Megyn Kelly
I don't think completely cleared is accurate. Will you resign as Secretary of Defense? If you drink on the job, which is a 247 position, I've made this.
- [18:54]
Dakota Meyer
Commitment on behalf of.
- [18:56]
Megyn Kelly
Will you resign, Secretary of Defense?
- [18:58]
Dakota Meyer
I've made this commitment on behalf of the men and women I'm serving. I'm not, because it's the most important deployment.
- [19:04]
Megyn Kelly
Not hearing an answer to my question. So I'm going to move, carry out an order to shoot protest country in the legs.
- [19:10]
Dakota Meyer
I saw 50 service agents get injured by riders trying to jump over the fence, set the church on fire, and destroy that sounds to me that you.
- [19:19]
Megyn Kelly
Will comply with such an order. You will shoot protesters in the. In the leg. Wait, there's. There's more. She. She pressed him on Greenland, too. She has us invading Greenland in Saad 18 is, would you use our military to take over Greenland or an ally of Denmark?
- [19:48]
Dakota Meyer
Senator, one of the things that President Trump is so good at is never strategically tipping his hand. And so I would never, in this public forum, give one way or another direct what orders the president gives. To me, in any context, it sounds.
- [20:00]
Megyn Kelly
To me that you would contemplate carrying out such an order to basically Invade Greenland and take over the Panama Canal.
- [20:10]
Michael Knowles
How about a trade, Megan? How about. Listen, I love Hawaii. It is one of my absolute favorite places on Earth. I'm beginning to think we might have made a mistake in 1959. So what if it's just a fair trade to Denmark? Denmark gets Hawaii, they get Maisie Hirono, and we get Greenland.
- [20:27]
Megyn Kelly
Easy. So she was terrible. She was just so. She thought she was scoring points. You know, you could kind of feel that she was like, yeah, I got him again. While the rest of us are laughing at her, everybody in the gallery was laughing at her. So that was Maisie. But, I mean, honestly, I don't want to choose, like, the worst woman, but Kirsten Gillibrand was.
- [20:49]
Michael Knowles
She was the worst, like, hysterical.
- [20:51]
Megyn Kelly
First of all, she looks like she's aged 30 years in the past four. Like, I looked around, and she looked like a woman in her mid-40s last time I looked at her. And then from afar, I was like, she looks like an elderly woman over there. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to attack her personally. I'm just saying, like, I think the job has been a lot for her, and it's also backed up by her hysterics. Like, people's feelings are hurt. Here's a sample. We have hundreds, hundreds of women who are currently in the infantry. Lethal members of our military serving in the infantry, but you degrade them. You say, we need moms, but not in the military, especially in combat units. Please explain these types of statements because they're brutal and they're mean.
- [21:39]
Dakota Meyer
And I would point out I have never disparaged women serving in the military. I respect every single female service member that has put on the uniform, passed, and present my critiques. Senator, recently and in the past and from personal experience, have been instances where I've seen standards lowered.
- [21:57]
Megyn Kelly
So just. You cannot denigrate women in general, and your statements do that. We don't want women in the military, especially in combat. What a terrible statement. Everything you've said in these public statements is politics. I don't want women. I don't want moms. What's wrong with a mom, by the way? Once you have babies, you therefore are no longer able to be lethal, because I don't want you thinking, can't serve if you're a mom. Can't serve if you're lgbtq. And then last, can't serve if you're a leftist. Michael, thoughts?
- [22:29]
Michael Knowles
Yeah. I think that Kirsten Gillibrand began her line of questioning, trying to persuade people that Women do belong in combat. And I think by the end of it, she had people wondering if women belong in the United States Senate. That was really awful. I think we need Senator Megyn Kelly to go restore the reputation of women in the deliberative body. She did not persuade anybody of anything?
- [22:54]
Megyn Kelly
No. I don't know why they, you know, on this show, sometimes I have a temper. I'll get out, whatever. If I were in the Senate, trust me, I would be composed and I would be able to make my points without getting hysterical. Yeah, I wrote it down in my notes. It was like one of the few notes I took. At one point she says, your comments are so hurtful. They're so hurtful.
- [23:16]
Michael Knowles
They're so mean.
- [23:18]
Megyn Kelly
To whom? To the war fighters. So you're saying the female war fighters feelings are hurt. Do you see how you're undermining your own point, madam? Are they war fighters who can go in there and take bullets, or are they weepy little schoolgirls who Pete, hurt their feelings and they need a public apology? Go ahead.
- [23:42]
Michael Knowles
Even to raise this point of women who are in the military, who are mothers, that maybe it's not the best idea to go send our mothers out there to go catch bullets from jihadis. Maybe there's something a little weird about that. You know, it's so disingenuous, the objections that she's making, because when it comes to all of these questions, until very, very recently, we didn't have women in combat. Everyone agreed. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, women should not be in combat catching bullets from terrorists. Until very, very recently, we all agreed men who think that they're women don't belong in the military. They belong in counseling because there's something that's gone wrong in their heads. Until very, very recently, we all agreed that DEI and all other forms of political correctness and methods of promotion that are not based on lethality and merit have no place in the military. Everyone agreed with that until the Obama administration, basically. And so to suggest now that to want to rewind the clock back to those long ago days of, what, 2013 or something, that somehow regressive and beyond the pale, it's just absurd. I mean, this is the kind of radicalism that the American people rejected at the ballot box in November. And I don't think the mood has changed between that time and Kristen Gillibrand's shrill line of questioning.
- [25:01]
Megyn Kelly
I loved how Senator Wicker was the chair and he did a great job. He's like, no, you're not getting a second round of questioning. We're gonna run this the same way we ran the last two when the Dems were in charge. And then you've got the ranking member, Jack Reed, who was making all sorts of points. But here's what I love about it. He, he had all sorts of points. He was trying to score against Pete, but this is how he would do it. Well, I would like the record to reflect that. I want to say the following terrible things about Pete. He got so far away from the microphone every time he spoke, you couldn't hear him at all. His staff put a note in front of him saying, get in front of the microphone, you can't hear you. He listened to it one time and for the rest of the time he was like. And another thing about Pete Hex good.
- [25:51]
Michael Knowles
It was better for them, it was better for the Democrats that people not hear their ridiculous arguments. You know, on this point of rhetoric and oratory and showmanship, this was the point. I forget which Democrat senator raised it about Pete Hegseth. I think it might have been Mark Kelly who said, look, I'd vote for you for Pentagon spokesman, but I'm not voting for you to be the head of the Pentagon because, you know, you're just a smooth talker basically. And that manifestly was not true. He just also happens to be a good communicator. He's a guy who has multiple degrees from very prestigious institutions, who has served in combat, who has led troops, who has fought for veterans, who has gotten legislation advanced. He is a really serious and accomplished guy. Oh, and he also happens to be a good communicator. Maybe that would be a nice thing. You know, the US Senators don't even know how to use a microphone. Maybe it would be good in an era when the American people so distrust our institutions to have a guy who is competent, intelligent, educated, right minded and also able to speak to people in a persuasive way, as he did during his confirmation hearings.
- [26:59]
Megyn Kelly
One more for you. How great was it when Senator Mullen of Oklahoma took the mic and got up there and just unleashed on everybody on the other side like, you're a bunch of drunks. You think he's a drunk, you're drunks. You show. Here, watch. Watch this.
- [27:13]
Dakota Meyer
There's a lot about qualifications. I think it's so hypocritical of senators, especially on the other side of the aisle, be talking about his qualifications, not going to lead the secretary or be the Secretary of Defense. And yet your qualifications aren't any better. Your own secretary that you all voted for Secretary Boston, we had to vote on a waiver because he stepped off.
- [27:34]
Michael Knowles
The board of Raytheon.
- [27:37]
Dakota Meyer
But I guess that's okay because that's a Democrat Secretary of Defense. The senator from Virginia starts bringing up.
- [27:43]
Instacart Advertiser
The fact that, what if you showed.
- [27:45]
Dakota Meyer
Up drunk to your job? How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night?
- [27:51]
Megyn Kelly
Oh, boy.
- [27:53]
Dakota Meyer
Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign for their job? And don't tell me you haven't seen it, because I know you have. And then how many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No, but it's for show. You guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy because the man's made a mistake.
- [28:19]
Megyn Kelly
Great.
- [28:20]
Michael Knowles
Look at Tim Kaine. Tim Kaine doesn't say boo. Because everything that Senator Mullen said was obviously true. This is not even the sort of thing that only the senators know about. This is widely known in Washington, D.C. anybody who's ever spent any time around Capitol Hill knows this. The percentage of senators who sleep with staff members or lobbyists or members of the media is pretty significant. And the number of senators who show up to vote. A rama. Maybe they've had a few drinks. It's a lot. And that's why all of those Democrat senators were dead silent. You know, he was great. Because they were puffing themselves up so much as these arbiters of morality. These are the kinds of people who support murdering babies and castrating little children. But all of a sudden, they have such moral authority, they're going to castigate Pete Hegseth, a man who has quite clearly turned his life around. They're going to attack him for past misdeeds. And then you get Mullen in there, he says, hey, guys, I'd like to enter into the record this giant mirror. Do you remember who you are? Yeah. Okay, great. Please usher along our Secretary of Defense.
- [29:27]
Megyn Kelly
Here's the other thing. One other thing. They were like, how many people did you manage at Concerned Veterans for America? How many people did you manage at Vets for Freedom? And he was like, you know, maybe 8 to 10. 8 to 10? 8 to 10. That's all. And you're gonna manage all these people at the Department of Defense. Let me ask. And he finally said, you know, I'm gonna work for a CEO who's extremely successful.
- [29:46]
Michael Knowles
Yeah.
- [29:47]
Megyn Kelly
How many people had Barack Obama managed before they made him president? Okay. He was a community organizer. He didn't do anything managing people. I mean, Literally nothing. He was, he went to Harvard Law School. He worked like a summer at Sidley in Austin, I think. And then he decided to be a community organizer, becoming an activist. He managed no. 1. Pete Hexseth on the battlefield as a major commanded far more people in advance of this role than Barack Obama ever did. And their party made him commander in chief. The nerve of these people. Michael Knowles, I'll give you the last word.
- [30:29]
Michael Knowles
I loved the correction when the chairman said, I'd just like to point out that Pete Hegseth has managed many more, many more people than the average United States Senator. These people who sat in judgment of Pete today were had absolutely no credibility to attack him. They didn't bring the goods. Pete Hegseth is going to be the Secretary of Defense and the rest of Trump's nominees are going to have a much easier time because of it.
- [30:53]
Megyn Kelly
Yes, totally agree. Thank you. Michael Knowles. Great to see you.
- [30:57]
Michael Knowles
Great to be with you. Thanks, Megan.
- [30:59]
Megyn Kelly
All right, coming up next, Dakota meyer and Rob O'Neill, those war fighters that we were hearing so much about today from Pete and others, they'll respond to what they saw. Are you overwhelmed with back taxes or unfiled returns? Well, get ready because since COVID relief ended, The IRS hired 20,000 new enforcement agents proposing millions of pay up notices for 2025. If you're worried about IRS collection tactics, you don't have to face them alone. Tax Network USA can help you. Tax Network USA is the nation's premier tax relief firm. They've negotiated over 1 billion in tax relief for clients. Their services include penalty, forgiveness and hardship programs. Whether you owe 10,000 or 10 million, their experts are ready to assist you. Even if you're behind on taxes, Tax Network USA can guide you through the process. Contact them for personalized support. Handling IRS matters without professional help is risky. Protect your financial security with guidance from Tax Network USA. To schedule a complimentary consultation, call 1-800-958-1000 or visit tnusa.com Megan don't let the IRS's aggressive tactics control your life. Empower yourself with Tax Network USA support and takes charge of your financial future. Visit tnusa.commegan today. These days, personal safety is not something that can be left to chance. Whether at home, on the road, or just living everyday life, having a reliable way to protect yourself and your family is crucial. This is why Burna is the choice for many. I'm excited to tell you about Burna. Burna is a game changing, less lethal self defense tool. It's compact, it's powerful and it's easy to use. It provides the confidence to act in any situation, whether you are a gun owner who would like a non lethal option before you get to the actual firearm or you are someone who is uncomfortable with guns and you want something to protect yourself but something that is not lethal. Byrna uses non lethal rounds, tear gas, pepper, kinetic projectiles to effectively stop a threat from a safe distance. And the best part? Burna can be shipped directly to your door and it's legal in all 50 states. Burna is proudly American with products hand assembled in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sometimes a firearm is not the right option. What if you have terrible aim? With Burna, you actually don't have to hit the perpetrator if he's hiding behind a chair, you can hit this the wall right behind him or all around him and the basically chemical pellets will take him out for a time. Not take him out, take him out. Burna is a powerful alternative and a lot of gun owners love it. A lot of non gun owners love it. It's just a very clever, thoughtful alternative or addition to your firearm. Protect what matters most with Byrna. Visit by r n a.com that's b y r n a.com Megan to receive a 10% discount and learn why thousands of people in law enforcement agencies are making the switch to Burna's less lethal protection. Non lethal self defense. Always ready.
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- [34:35]
Megyn Kelly
I'm Megyn Kelly, host of the Megyn Kelly show on Sirius xm. It's your home for open, honest and provocative conversations with the most interesting and important political, legal and cultural figures. Today you can catch the Megyn Kelly show on Triumph, a SiriusXM channel featuring lots of hosts you may know and probably love. Great people like Dr. Laura, Glenn Beck, Nancy Grace, Dave Ramsey, and yours truly, Megyn Kelly. You can stream the Megyn Kelly show on SiriusXM at home or anywhere you are. No car required. I do it all the time. I love the SiriusXM app. It has ad free music coverage of every major sport, comedy talk, podcast, podcast and more. Subscribe now. Get your first three months for free.
- [35:20]
Michael Knowles
Go to SiriusXM.com MKShow to subscribe and get three months free. That's SiriusXM.com MKShow and get three months free. Offer details apply.
- [35:38]
Megyn Kelly
I want to get more reaction now to Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing from two men who know exactly what we need in a Secretary of defense, Dakota Meyer, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who became the first living Marine in over 40 years to receive the Medal of Honor in 2011, along with Rob O'Neill, a U.S. navy SEAL veteran who participated in over 400 combat operations, including the raid that killed bin Laden. He's the man who did it. He's now the host of the Operator podcast. Guys, great to see you again. How you doing?
- [36:10]
Rob O'Neill
Good.
- [36:11]
Instacart Advertiser
Doing well, Megan. Thanks for having us.
- [36:13]
Megyn Kelly
Oh my gosh, I'm dying to hear your reaction to what we saw today. Rob, let me start with you because it really was like these senators who most of whom they don't like, they're happy to send you two into war while they sit in these air conditioned offices, but when they get an actual war fighter in front of them, they treat him like he's the gum on the bottom of their shoe.
- [36:38]
Instacart Advertiser
Yeah, Megan, it's crazy. My initial reaction was Senator Blumenthal, who I can't believe shows his face in that committee because he lied about Vietnam the entire time. He's been lying about Vietnam since he didn't fight there. And then he finally got busted, had to come out and say, you know, I apologize for misspeaking. There's a huge difference between fighting in Vietnam with real Marines and misspeaking and lying and no. So he's up there doing that we didn't mention. I love how high and mighty they all get. They're not mentioning Senator Ben Cardin, had a staffer who had gay sex in the Judiciary Committee room, filmed it. No big deal. And then even this the far as I love how, how Senator Mullen from Oklahoma said, you know, they come in drunk. I've seen you come in drunk. It's almost like there's some Senate like the Democrats are playing their, the cards they play and they're, you know, their sentences that they don't, their questions they don't want answered. But now all of a sudden you, you turn the Light on and the roaches just scatter. It's, I mean, it was, it was. Pete did a great job and I think Democrats looked horrible.
- [37:37]
Megyn Kelly
Yeah. Here's Dick Blueenthal of Connecticut trying to get, trying to get. It was a gotcha against Pete on exactly what numbers are in which branches of the military watch. Mr. Hecseth, I'm asking you a very simple question.
- [37:51]
Dakota Meyer
How many men and women currently serve in the United States Army? Senator? The United States Army? 450,000 on active duty, sir.
- [37:59]
Instacart Advertiser
And how many in the Navy?
- [38:02]
Dakota Meyer
And the Navy is 425, sir.
- [38:05]
Instacart Advertiser
Well, it's 337 this year.
- [38:07]
Rob O'Neill
How many in the Marine Corps?
- [38:09]
Dakota Meyer
175. 175,000, sir.
- [38:11]
Instacart Advertiser
172,300. Those numbers dwarf any experience you had by many multiples.
- [38:23]
Dakota Meyer
I don't believe that you can tell.
- [38:26]
Rob O'Neill
This committee or the people of America.
- [38:28]
Dakota Meyer
That you are qualified to lead them. I would support you as the spokesperson for the Pentagon.
- [38:39]
Megyn Kelly
Oh, so rude. Dakota, what did you make of that?
- [38:43]
Rob O'Neill
I mean, look, I think that, I mean, I watched the whole thing and it just, it blew my mind, first off that the leaders of the policymakers, lawmakers of this country, that these were the priorities that they were focused on on. Someone is about to go and be in charge of the force that not only maintains and secures the United States national security, but also really is the stabilization of the globe. And these were the questions that they wanted to ask the Haha. Gotcha. They use these moments right now in this confirmation hearing to sit here and focus on the same thing over and over about just trying to. I got you. And you know, the thing when I watch Pete there, it's like, you know, one side of it, I'm sitting back and I'm like, well, say this, this, you know, from my point. But it's like he knows the game, right? He's sitting there. He knows that no matter what he says, he's got to get through this and he's got a limit exposure. Right. And, and that's the problem with the, with all of this is like there is no accountability for them sitting up there on, on that in that position. There's no accountability for the lawmakers. There's no accountability for any of them up there. But they want to turn around. They want to critique this man over and over rightfully. So, like, I think we have to, to sit here and vet and we have to make sure that, that, you know, these people are going to uphold the policies and they're going to support the Constitution of the United States. And I, you know, we want to hear his views on what he's going to do about, you know, the issues that are truly, you know, threatening the United States of America. But like to sit here and make this out, it just shows you that the priority of the security of the United States of America is not the priority of the left right now.
- [40:20]
Megyn Kelly
Mm. It was pretty remarkable when Pete got there, he had the support of the crowd. In fact, some Democrats were saying they'd never seen the hearing room like this, that they were stunned at the number of people who showed up to support Pete. And when Pete walked in, they start, they broke out in chants of USA. Here's a little bit of that in SOT 1. USA.
- [40:41]
Rob O'Neill
USA.
- [40:44]
Megyn Kelly
USA. USA.USA. uSA. USA. USA. And one of the most interesting things, Rob, was when they were trying to cross examine him, a couple did, but Jack Reed, the ranking Dem in particular, on whether he thinks we should follow the Geneva Convention. And Pete was trying to say, look, my criticisms have been you've got these people in, you know, another land who come up with these rules. But war fighters on the ground get conflicting messages, especially in today's modern military where they're fighting against insurgents and they need better guidance on exactly what they're allowed to do, what they're not allowed to do. Here's something akin to that exchange in Sat 13.
- [41:28]
Michael Knowles
Your definition of lethality seems to embrace those people who do commit law crimes.
- [41:34]
Instacart Advertiser
Rather than those who stand up and.
- [41:36]
Michael Knowles
Say, this is not right.
- [41:38]
Dakota Meyer
So what's the response to your service.
- [41:40]
Michael Knowles
Members who personally witnessed these and took.
- [41:44]
Dakota Meyer
Courageously reported them to their superiors? Senator, as someone who's led men in combat directly and had to make very difficult decisions, I've thought very deeply about the balance between legality and lethality. Sir, I'm talking about restrictive rules of engagement that these men and women behind me understand they've lived with on the battlefield, which has made it more difficult to defeat our enemies. In many of the cases you're talking about, in particular, sir, there was evidence withheld, there was prosecutorial misconduct. And as someone who looks case by case and defaults to the war fighter, to the men and women with dust on their boots, not the second guessers in air conditioned offices in Washington D.C. excuse me, I look case by case and was proud to work with President Trump to understand those cases and ensure that our warriors are always looked out for.
- [42:38]
Megyn Kelly
Go ahead, Rob.
- [42:40]
Instacart Advertiser
Well, I think that the rules of engagement have a tendency to get way too strict, especially the longer we make a war last. And you know, the Geneva Convention was one thing, but things change. And then every, I mean I've seen everything from ncis, which by the way, the worst thing that ever happened is they made a TV show making those guys look cool. They're going to get promoted. The more people they can prosecute play the, the good guy, then they're the bad guy and they get, you know, whatever credit when they put someone in jail. What I've noticed with, especially with my unit in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fewer rules we had, the better we were because we had the latitude and were more precise and like it or not, we, we on the ground are the good guys. And the Monday morning quarterbacks sit in Washington D.C. and, and put people in Leavenworth for murder in war. I remember even on the bin Laden raid when we, before we even got in the house, one of my friends shot one of the couriers and then his wife jumped on top. He shot her. He looked at me outside the house, this outside Bin Laden's house, and he said, I just shot one of the women. She just jumped in front. Am I going to be okay? It's like, stop worrying about that. That should not be in your mind. And when a Marine is in a gunfight, they should be worried about, well, is some dude in a nice suit that's never been in mud going to prosecute me for this? It's nonsense. And this is what, this is the bureaucracy that happens with the further you go, the bigger the government agencies get. And then it turns into the self licking ice cream cone. Personal power. Can I put an American in jail so I can get a Navy achievement medal? And that's what Pete's getting at. And the reason there's so much blowback is because what needs to happen is the fat needs to get trimmed. What needs to happen at the Pentagon is exactly what Elon Musk did at Twitter. Get rid of everybody, almost change the name and then be more efficient. And that's, you're just, you're seeing the death throes of dying policies. And that's what these senators were doing today. And Pete nailed it.
- [44:24]
Megyn Kelly
So Dakota, you heard there a little suggestion. That's where Blumenthal was going. Like you don't, you can't manage these numbers in the army and the Navy. You've never managed anything. It's too big. You've done nothing. Totally ignoring. As I pointed out before you guys came on, Barack Obama managed absolutely nothing before he became President of the United States. He was a community Organizer. That's it. And then you finally have the last person to question Pete of anybody up there who was the newly elected Republican senator from the great state of Montana, that's Rob O'Neill's home state, Butte, Montana, who gets up there. She, he and starts who's an actual veteran and he decides to go a different way with Pete.
- [45:11]
Michael Knowles
Watch how many genders are there?
- [45:13]
Dakota Meyer
Tough one Senator. There are two genders. I know that well, I'm a sheehy.
- [45:19]
Michael Knowles
So I'm on board. What is the diameter of the rifle.
- [45:26]
Dakota Meyer
Round fired out of an M4? A1 rifle. That's a five, five six. How many push ups can you do? I did five sets of 47 this morning. What do you think? What do you think our most important.
- [45:42]
Michael Knowles
Strategic base is in the Pacific?
- [45:44]
Dakota Meyer
In the Pacific. Guam is pretty strategically significant.
- [45:49]
Megyn Kelly
And then he went on Dakota. That continued for another five. Well, I mean maybe three minutes. And Pete knew all those answers and he was trying to make a point there.
- [45:59]
Rob O'Neill
Yeah, look, I mean I think that all of us sitting back and trying to figure out or to decide how Pete's gonna, if he, how he's going to do or how he's not going to do. I mean that's all 100% on Pete's shoulders and we're about to find out. Right. I think, you know, questioning Pete about what he said on Fox News mean he was in the, he was in a role of a reporter. Now he's about to go into the role of, you know, the Secretary of Defense which all of us should be coming and rallying around and trusting. Look, I'll say up front, like let me, let me just go ahead and own this up front. Megan is like in the beginning of this I was not an advocate for this. I was 100% against it. Right. I was, I was emotionally tied to it. I, I had a lot of questions and all that and, and, and you know, I, I had to get set down and, and, and really spoke by another veteran who's, who's in all of it. But you know, she looked at me and she said hey look, you know, he's going to be carrying out not his personal views. This isn't about the personal Pete. This is about the person who's going to go out and carry out what the President of the United States wants him to do and, and what's on behalf in the best interest of other people. And, and when it comes down to that, like I 100 believe that we all got to stand behind and hope and support that, you know, Pete on this, that he's gonna go out and do the right thing. I mean, I think Pete's got a huge learning curve like every single one of us or anybody that steps into that role is going to do. What I can tell you is, is that historically, the. The last few people who have been in there have not. Have not been doing or making a great difference, nor have they been, you know, doing what. What we need to get our military focused on doing. Our military is made. And the focus for our military is two things. Lethality, war fighting and people. War fighting and people. That is the business. And that is the only two focuses that. That that aspect should be focused on. And that's what we've got to get back to. And I trust that Pete's going to do that. I trust that Pete loves America. I trust that Pete puts America first. I trust that, that, that Pete loves troops. And I trust that he is going to be loyal to the President of the United States, the Constitution, and he's going to carry out the orders that he needs to in the best interest of the United States of America. And that is what I know about Pete. He. And that is what I care about right now is that somebody goes up there. Look, none of us, none of us have a clean record that, you know, on our worst times, that none of us would want to trade Pete's seat and sit up there with all these people trying to go and find the skeletons in our closet. I can tell you, nobody watching this, nobody watching that confirmation hearing today would have traded seats with Pete if anybody would have knew about a tenth of what people have been going and digging on him for the last couple of months. So I just think that, like, this hypocrisy of all of us sitting back and throwing rocks at the man in the arena right now is something that. That is. Is not helpful, nor is it, you know, we all should sit back here and we should hope that and get behind Pete and we should try to. To sit here and hope that he goes and that he can handle this job. And if he can't, then we'll see pretty quick. But none of this is on any of us to figure out. It's on Pete Hedseth now. And I trust that all of us should come around him and we should sit here and help him become successful. Because if Pete's successful, the President successful, the United States of America successful, and not only that, the globe is successful. So that I think that that is the point that we've all got to rally around right now.
- [49:17]
Megyn Kelly
I love your honesty. I know that you were at best lukewarm on Pete, which is one of the reasons we wanted you to be here. We don't not just looking for uniformity and thought. Rob, one of the things or a couple of things that Pete said today, I know are right up your alley. I mean, we've talked about it many times and one of them, of course, we heard over and over how he wants to get woke out of the military. And that's been a big priority for Trump. But the other one speaks to the total lack of accountability for the people who have lost our wars, who have endangered guys like you in many cases unnecessarily without any accountability for it. Like the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. And Pete spoke to that a bit at the end. Take a listen to Sat 17.
- [50:01]
Dakota Meyer
The wokeness comes not from the uniform ranked senator, but from the political class. On day one, on January 20th, when President Trump is sworn in, he will issue a new set of lawful orders and the leadership of our services will have an opportunity to follow those lawful orders or not. Those lawful orders will not be based on politics. They will be based on readiness, accountability standards and lethality. That is the process by which leaders will be judged. And accountability is coming because everybody in this room knows if you're a rifleman and you lose your rifle, they're throwing the book at you. But if you're a general who loses a war, you get a promotion. That's not going to happen in Donald Trump's Pentagon. There will be real standards for success.
- [50:51]
Megyn Kelly
Never heard a message like that from anybody nominated to this post before.
- [50:56]
Instacart Advertiser
Yeah, that was the best quote of the day. I remember when he said that. And that's exactly what he's bringing to it. He's trying to simplify it. He's not trying to spin anything. We're going to fight the war and we're going to win. And accountability is huge. And every veteran back there, there's a lot of special Forces, a lot of infantry and Marines behind him. You could almost hear him, hear them agreeing with him. Because that's what they want is accountability. They want to be able to have alliance solidarity. They want a forward defense and deterrence. They're not worri about the political class. Like Pete was just saying brilliantly that that's where all this stuff comes from. And you could even hear it spun today. I think it was Mazzy Hirono from Hawaii who said something like, it doesn't matter who you love if you fight in a war it's like, well, it's not quite that. Pete's saying, if you live up to the standards, you can work. And it's not the worry about the LGBTQ stuff. It's the, are you gonna get an operation that requires you to recover for 18 months and you're not operationally ready? That's all he's saying. But the problem is, a lot of times, especially even dealing with politicians, you really gotta be careful telling the truth, because you might just offend stupid people. And that's all that's happening here. But Pete nailed it. And that's right, too. The only person who's been held accountable for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was a colonel who spoke up, and he didn't even say anything disparaging. It's like, hey, where's the accountability? Boom, fired. And that's the way they handle it. Because you get to a certain level in the military, you stop being military and you start being political. Because you want to get the job at Raytheon, you want to be a contractor, you want to run for politicians. And I've talked to so many. I've been saying for a long time, we need a mid level officer with experience on the ground to take the Pentagon. I've talked to so many good officers at the major level, lieutenant commander level, to get out of the Navy, get out of the army, because they're tired of dealing with the bureaucracy. I have a simple plan, too. If you want to keep it simple, the second you stop carrying your own bags, you need to get out of the military. And that's it. So we need a major in there, a lieutenant colonel to run the. I think it's a perfect choice. And you know what? If we're wrong, we're wrong. But we're going to find out. Peaches cruise today. He's going to get nominated. He's going to get. He's going to get the job confirmed.
- [52:53]
Megyn Kelly
It's funny because I realized sitting there today that everything I know about military ranks I learned from mash. Am I alone in that? You're like, wait a minute, wait, who is above Klinger? And then there was anyway Hawkeye, okay?
- [53:08]
Rob O'Neill
And I would like to go on that. Like, you look at my instance, right? Like, we do have an officer problem. Like, we got a lot of. We've got a lot of great officers. We have a lot of great officers. I want to say it up front. You know, there are some generals that are by far some of the best human beings that I know that wear the stars on their Chest. But what I also want to say is we've got a lot of bad ones too. And you know, you look at, you look at my instance, you know, you take Afghanistan, my situation where we've got two investigations. Direct loss of life due to leadership. These officers got, they got letters of reprimand, they got promoted, then they got out and retired. And then as this other general got out, he ripped up those letters of reprimand and nobody was held accountable. Now, let me tell you this. If I had made the decision and got somebody killed or done the same thing that they had done, I would have been hammered. Anybody enlisted would have made or planned that mission that they could have pinned it on. The enlisted would have been hammered. And so like seeing Pete come in and hopefully recognize that and fixing it, I just think that, like I, I said it a long time ago, the, the, there has got to be some level of accountability. The accountability has got to be equal. And it can't be this good old boy club that everybody is, is overlooking in the aspect of it. Like, I'm in, I'm in. Let's just hold him accountable. Like, like if you mess up at the same level that you're going to hold this private who goes out and, and does something wrong or loses their rifle. Like, I just don't understand why a general, like, you know, a general isn't held to the same, same standard as, you know, a, a Lance corporate and gets in trouble. And it's just, there is no way that anybody in the military will say that that is not the case.
- [54:49]
Megyn Kelly
Okay, let's spend a minute on the, on the sort of main lines of attack against him. We covered a couple like you. You don't have the experience or you haven't managed enough. They, or you, you allegedly beat your wife. Okay, thanks, Tim Kaine. Sure. Great. But then there was the Mark Kelly, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. He brought up some of the allegations that we've seen in the anonymous press. The press citing anonymous sources. Here's a little bit of that. In Sat16, an event in North Carolina.
- [55:19]
Dakota Meyer
Drunk in front of three young female staff members after you had instituted a.
- [55:24]
Michael Knowles
No alcohol policy and then reversed it.
- [55:27]
Megyn Kelly
True or false?
- [55:28]
Dakota Meyer
Anonymous smears.
- [55:29]
Michael Knowles
December of 2014 at the CVA Christmas party at the Grand Hyatt at Washington.
- [55:34]
Dakota Meyer
D.C. you were noticeably intoxicated and had.
- [55:38]
Michael Knowles
To be carried up to your room. Is that true or false?
- [55:42]
Dakota Meyer
Anonymous smears. Another time, a CVA staffer stated that you passed out in the back of a party bus.
- [55:49]
Michael Knowles
Is that true or false?
- [55:51]
Dakota Meyer
Anonymous smears. In 2014, while in Louisiana on official.
- [55:57]
Michael Knowles
Business for CVA, did you take your.
- [56:00]
Dakota Meyer
Staff, including young female staff members, to a strip club? Absolutely not. Anonymous smears.
- [56:09]
Megyn Kelly
Okay. I'll just say the audience heard me talk about this kind of thing before. That wasn't great by Pete, because choose one or the other. Either you're gonna say, no, no, no, no, or you're gonna say an anonymous smears the whole time. But to jump in with absolutely not on just the one is sort of an admission. It sounds like an admission to all the others. Right. Like, I mean, I don't think it was an admission. I'm just saying. So anyway, what did you make of it, Rob? Was it effective?
- [56:36]
Instacart Advertiser
Well, yeah. I mean. Well, because when he's. When he's talking to Senator Kelly, who, by the way, is just ramping up for a run in 2028, that's all he's doing. But at one point he was saying it's anonymous. And he. All he said was, well, they're not anonymous with no proof. Like, well, then who is it?
- [56:50]
Megyn Kelly
It? Well, yeah, like he's seen them.
- [56:51]
Instacart Advertiser
Well, they are. But I think that the beat your wife thing was so egregious that Pete had to say, absolutely not, because that's just ridiculous. I mean, it's to the point where, well, if you did.
- [57:00]
Megyn Kelly
Well, that. No, he said absolutely not. On, did you go to a strip club? But by the way, it's already all over the press by people who actually did go to the strip club that Pete wasn't there. Like, that's already actually been out there. That didn't make it into anybody's questioning, that a third party independent witness has said, I was there and he was not there.
- [57:18]
Instacart Advertiser
Well, he was saying it was addressed and he wasn't there. If he wasn't there, that's not really on him. I don't think. I don't think the chain of command in the civilian sector works like it does in the military. It's not. It would be on the, you know, probably on the XO or the CO If a bunch of his guys went to the. To the bar on a. On a weekend, on a trip and then got in trouble, that would be on them, but I don't think it is there.
- [57:36]
Megyn Kelly
But, Rob, don't you think this is. This is where, like, all the anonymous press allegations did their job? Right. They made their way into the hands of a US Senator who then got to list them off like they were all real and verified. And, you know, it's like, just the assumption that he was guilty of them all was built in, which is why I think anonymous smears was actually a good answer for all of them. And he probably just should have stuck with that straight through strippers or no strippers.
- [58:03]
Instacart Advertiser
Okay. I mean, you put it that way, yes, I agree with you. I was just thinking it was the strip club or the beating your wife thing. He's going to answer it that way because, I mean, you gotta consider with all the stuff being thrown at him, he really handled his emotions very, very well. This is one of the major reasons I'm not running for office or trying to get confirmed into anything. But he handled it like a pro. And he did get a little upset, but, I mean, he did a really good job. Knowing the Democrats, he did such a good job today, and the Democrats were so bad. I think it's gonna make the next confirmation hearings go a lot smoother because this. They're gonna shoot their shot like they always do. We've seen in landslide elections where the American public wants it. Even the media's, you know, taking a knee to what's gonna happen. This is. This is, you know what, they got six days left. They're just doing what they can, and then they're gearing up for the next election, which is what politicians do.
- [58:46]
Megyn Kelly
The other big thing was women in the military. I mean, they just beat that horse until it was absolutely dead and dead again. Today he made so clear that what he's been talking about is like, yes, women can serve in combat if they can meet the standards. It's like what I've been saying all week on the firefighters out in LA and what most normal Americans feel they can serve if they can do the job. Although I have to say, you know, there are other arguments for women not serving in combat. Like, the distraction of it. Like, I actually. I don't know how Pete truly feels, but I think I might be further to the right than he is on it. But, Dakota, do you think that that's going to be an ongoing issue? Because all the women up there seem to be, you know, indignant about that. Pete would ever say that there's a question about whether women should be serving certain combat role.
- [59:32]
Rob O'Neill
Look, I. I think that. I mean, look, I. I think it doesn't matter what Pete said today. I don't think. I don't think it was gonna matter. Right. I don't think if he had said one way or the other. I don't think any of it really mattered. Like, it was just all about it. Was all about them getting their talking points out in their show out. So I mean, the women in combat thing, like me and Pete, I told Pete on the phone that I, you know, my, what he, what he is, I think he clarified today for me. He clarified today initially what I'd heard, like, small snippets, right, of, you know, which talking points or whatever has been spun out is, you know, no women in combat or I don't support women in combat. Right. But what you heard him today is clarify is like, no, look, I think I had an opportunity, but like, the standard has got to be the standard. We cannot change up the physical demands. You can't sit here and you can't mitigate. You can't overlook those, nor can you tailor those, the physical demands that boots on the ground roles are going to require. And it's not, it's not gender based. It is, it is the job based. And so I think when he clarified that up today, I 100 agree with that aspect of it, right? I, I, I, you know, I 100 agree with that because to be honest with you, Megan, like, I have seen women that could help perform the, some of the men that go to combat next to me, right? And so when it comes to that aspect of it, I have watched, I have watched women who deserve to be in combat more than some of the guys that I've been in gunfights with and that I'd rather take them anyways, right? So I just don't, I don't get wrapped up into that aspect of it. Like, meet the standard. Like, go meet the standard. Can you lead people? Can you meet the standard? Can you go out and perform and can you be professional about it? Right? Because that is, that is what it's about. And I think that that's what Pete portrayed today. I'm so glad he got to clarify that and he got to, to, to, to, you know, to really elaborate on some of his prior statements or, or what was spun or whatever. Right? But I just think that, like, I don't think anything that he ma. Like what he said, said today was not changing any of their minds.
- [61:23]
Megyn Kelly
It was all about, I think you're right. I think you're right. No, he's not going to get a single Dem vote from the look of it. Last question. How many push ups did you guys do this morning?
- [61:35]
Instacart Advertiser
Dakota, I'll defer to you first because I think I outrank you.
- [61:41]
Rob O'Neill
Well, I worked out with, I worked with Lance Armstrong this morning, so I don't know. I think we we did. I think we did have some push ups in the workout, but I can't remember.
- [61:48]
Instacart Advertiser
Nice. I had Rob. I had leg day. Because I'm still. I had leg day. I'm still moving out of my house. A lot of stuff. A lot of furniture to carry.
- [61:54]
Megyn Kelly
Okay, well, I think it's unanimous. I did zero too. You guys. It's awesome to see you. Thank you as always for being here. Thank you for your service. God bless. And to be continued once he gets confirmed.
- [62:07]
Instacart Advertiser
Thank you, Megan.
- [62:09]
Megyn Kelly
Awesome.
- [62:09]
Rob O'Neill
Thank you.
- [62:10]
Megyn Kelly
All the best, guys. Wow. Okay, great show. We gotta go. I gotta get on my en route back to where do I live again, up in Connecticut. And thank you so much for being with us and for bearing with us as we dropped the show a little late today given where I was all morning. We are back tomorrow with vdh. See you then. Thanks for listening to the Megyn Kelly show. No bs, no agenda and no fear sa.