'Big misogynist': Female Dem senators give scathing early assessment of Pete Hegseth

WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) left the Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday after a contentious questioning of Donald Trump nominee Pete Hegseth.

As with many women on the committee, Gillibrand had questions about Hegseth's past stated opposition to women in the military. Specifically, she questioned his previous statement, “I don’t want moms in the military.”

"You said in your statement that you 'don't want politics in the DoD.' Everything you've said 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're no longer able to be lethal? ... it's a silly thing to say," she lambasted him.

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Upon leaving the hearing, Raw Story asked if she thought Hegseth was "sexist."

"That was the nature of my questions," she said. "I just have questions that he cannot value all the servicemembers who are serving, and if he can't do that how can he lead them?"

She also disputed chairman Roger Wicker's (R-MS) claim that senators would have plenty of time to ask questions.

"One of the other problems is we're not allowed a second round [of questioning]," she said. "I have ten more questions on ten different issues. I wanted to talk about China. I wanted to talk about cyber. I wanted to talk about domain awareness. A lot of critical issues about our national security we didn't have even the chance to address because he wouldn't meet with any Democrats before this hearing."

Raw Story asked if he's managed to change any Democratic minds on the committee.

"Not yet. Not yet," she replied.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) told Raw Story that she thinks Hegseth is a "big misogynist" when she was asked about his sexism.

Duckworth, like Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), served in combat and achieved the officer rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Both combat veterans outrank Hegseth.

Raw Story approached Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) before he went into the committee room to ask about the allegations of alcoholism by Fox News colleagues. Scott dismissed the claims as "anonymous sources" from a biased news source.

Raw Story asked Scott if the accusers came forward publicly if he would listen to them. He dodged the question saying, "I read the background documents" and scurried off.