Veteran jabs Hegseth after mom's interview: 'Wouldn't be surprised if she got nominated'

An Iraq War veteran on Wednesday chided Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to run the Department of Defense, over his decision to have his mom defend him on Fox News.

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace opened her Wednesday show by expressing empathy for the horrors that Hegesth's family has faced as accusations against him continue to emerge.

Veterans rights activist and commentator Paul Rieckhoff agreed that the situation is sad but that Hegseth is woefully incapable of leading the Pentagon.

"Character matters," he said.

ALSO READ: 'It's offensive': Multiple senators object to Trump's plan to usher in Pete Hegseth

There are also two major things that he said are going underreported about Hegseth. The first is that it's a violation of The Uniform Code of Military Justice to commit adultery. According to Hegseth, when he was in his first marriage, he cheated on his wife with five different women.

"He's openly admitted he's done that," said Rieckhoff.

His second point was that Hegseth's mother appearing on Fox News made him "sad because now she's performing for Trump."

"There is an audience of one and his mother is actually very charismatic, also very effective. I wouldn't be surprised if she got nominated for something in the administration," Rieckhoff joked.

However, he turned serious, saying that putting one's mother on television to defend you is a heavy lift.

"No job is worth putting my mother through that," he said. "And I have seen other family members have to go through similar things advocating for suicide and other things. This is on a whole other level. I don't know if that works for him, and I don't know if it works for Trump when he sees it on Fox today."

See the video below or at the link here.

- YouTubeyoutu.be