James Comer hangs Hegseth out to dry as ‘upset MAGA people’ rage

House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) declined to defend Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against a possible impeachment vote, saying MAGA voters “are mad” about the Iran war.

Comer made the remarks Friday in an interview on NewsNation, three days after Democrats won majorities in both chambers of Congress.

Host Markie Martin asked whether he wanted to see “somebody new in that spot,” with articles of impeachment possibly coming “as soon as next week.”

Comer left Hegseth’s future to President Donald Trump, then seemed to pour fuel on the impeachment fire by raising doubts about the Iran war the defense secretary is running.

“Well, that’s gonna be a decision that President Trump’s going to have to make, but I can tell you with a high level of confidence that there’s a lot of questions about Hegseth,” Comer said. “We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward in Iran.”

“No one’s happy about Iran,” he continued. “And I think the Republican voters are more upset about what’s going on in Iran than the Democrat voters.”

“That’s all I heard from Republican voters, people that have been MAGA for the last 12 years, MAGA flags in their yard, wore MAGA caps,” Comer said. “I mean, they are mad that we’re in this situation in Iran, and they’re mad over gas prices, and a lot of them stayed home.”

The eight-month war has driven up gas prices and fueled voter frustration over the cost of living, ABC News reported. So both complaints Comer heard from voters, the fighting in Iran and the price of gas, trace back to the war Hegseth’s Pentagon is waging.

“The reason we lost is the war,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X Wednesday.

“I do not think, at least in Kentucky, I don’t think that upset MAGA people voted Democrat,” Comer said. “They just didn’t vote. So we’ve got to regain their trust.”

Comer was the apparent favorite for next year’s Republican nomination for Kentucky governor even before announcing a run, the Kentucky Lantern reported in August. By his account, the MAGA voters who stayed home in Kentucky are voters he would need to win that nomination.

Comer said Hegseth’s fate was Trump’s call, and the White House is sending signals in both directions.

“I think he’s doing a fantastic job,” Trump told reporters Thursday, MS NOW reported. But CBS News reported that Trump has been asking advisers whether Hegseth should stay in the job.

“I believe you’ll ultimately see [Trump] hold Pete Hegseth accountable and that will play out in the lame duck,” a White House official told Fox News Digital, using a term for the weeks before the new Congress takes office in January.

Comer’s comments came as Hegseth faces a possible House impeachment vote that Republican defections could help pass.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who lost his May primary to a Trump-backed challenger, plans to reintroduce his impeachment articles when Congress returns unless Hegseth resigns, Spectrum News reported. Massie says Hegseth ignored congressional resolutions on the Iran war and directed unauthorized deadly force against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean.

“There’s a ton of members that have been wanting to take this vote, and we don’t have that big of a majority,” one House Republican told MS NOW. Most House Republicans are still expected to oppose impeaching Hegseth, Fox News Digital reported.

“A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried against President Trump twice,” Hegseth said in a video Thursday.