Heritage Foundation Ad Buy Backs Hegseth’s Bid for Defense Chief

The Heritage Foundation launched an ad campaign on Friday promoting President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.

On Nov. 21, The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America announced the launch of a $1 million campaign advocating for prompt Senate confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Of that, $50,000 will go toward bolstering Hegseth’s nomination.

The conservative think tank will use the funding to hit 785,00 impressions over the course of the next week, a spokeswoman told The Daily Signal. The ad will be placed on platforms such as Hulu, Roku, Max, YouTube TV, and local news stations.

Heritage also plans to send three text messages on behalf of Hegseth’s military record to targeted audiences throughout the week.

“President Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense has brought out the worst in the mainstream media and the radical Left,” Mary Vought, Heritage’s vice president of strategic communications, told The Daily Signal. “This is the first of many anticipated attacks on President Trump’s Cabinet nominees.”

“Heritage is committed to educating the American people on the need for a fair confirmation process,” she continued. “These smears and accusations are nothing but a distraction from his solid military record and his commitment to the American people and our national security.”

Trump announced Hegseth—whose military career included deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan and the awarding of two Bronze Stars—as his pick for secretary of defense on Nov. 12.

Following the announcement of Hegseth’s nomination, reports of a sexual assault allegation surfaced, along with other outlets claiming the former Fox News host had abused alcohol.

The New York Times published on Nov. 29 a leaked 2018 email from Hegseth’s mother, criticizing her son for allegedly mistreating women.

On Wednesday, however, Penelope Hegseth told Fox News host Steve Doocy she wrote the message in the heat of the moment—and apologized to her son two hours later in a second email that hadn’t been leaked, the New York Post reported. She blasted The New York Times as “despicable.”

Hegseth told SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly on Wednesday that he thinks he’s the target of a “smear” campaign comparable to that of the Senate confirmation hearings for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“I had a member [of Congress], not 45 minutes ago, look me in the eye in private, just he and I, and say, ‘That’s what they’re trying to do to you,’” Hegseth said. “‘That’s their playbook. Get ready for more, and they’re going to make it up, just like they have so far. All anonymous, all innuendo, all rumor, nothing sourced, no verification, and they’re just going to keep doing it, because you’re a threat to them. You’re a threat to their system. You’re a threat to all the things in Washington D.C., the swamp, the things that people have rejected. You’re a threat to that, and so they’re coming after you.’”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who has been reported as being ambivalent at best about the Hegseth nomination, posted late Friday afternoon on X that she and the nominee “will continue our constructive conversations as we move forward together in this process,” adding: “We plan to meet again next week. At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing.”

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