The corporate media’s smear campaign against Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee for United States secretary of defense, appears to be imploding.
Blatantly false claims about his qualifications are now backfiring as members of Congress rally behind Hegseth’s nomination.
In a stunningly dishonest move, West Point falsely claimed that Hegseth was never accepted to the prestigious military academy.
However, the academy had, in fact, offered him a slot that he did not accept.
An editor at left-wing ProPublica defended the false story.
The outlet claims West Point told ProPublica twice that Hegseth never applied to the school.
Hegseth posted an image of his acceptance letter online to pre-empt Pro Publica’s smear piece.
Meanwhile, West Point’s involvement in spreading an egregiously false claim about Hegseth has raised concerns about malfeasance.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) suggested political collusion between the respected academy and left-wing reporters.
“It is outrageous that West Point officials would so grossly interfere in a political process and make false claims regarding a presidential nominee,” Banks told Fox News.
“Even in the unlikely scenario of OPA mistakenly making false claims not once but twice, it is an unforgivable act of incompetence that OPA did not make absolutely sure their information was accurate before sharing it with a reporter.”
Hegseth’s nomination appeared to bounce back this week after a barrage of media attacks left his confirmation in doubt.
The firestorm had previously focused on false claims about his treatment of women.
Reporters leaked an emotional e-mail from his mother and anonymous claims about his alleged behavior at two veterans’ groups.
However, the claims were later discredited.
This week, Hegseth said he had received notice that ProPublica was preparing to publish a “knowingly false” report about his acceptance to West Point.
The school later apologized for the “administrative error.”
Many are sure to be skeptical that this was simply an innocent mistake, given the firestorm of controversy surrounding Hegseth and his opposition to “woke” ideology in the military and the service academies.
Banks, a Trump loyalist, won election to the Senate this year.
The senator-elect is supporting Hegseth’s confirmation to head the Pentagon.
Hegseth has been meeting with Republican senators to build support for his confirmation.
“Pete Hegseth will shake up the DOD and eliminate wokeness from our military and military academies,” Banks told Fox News Digital.
“This upsets the bureaucrats at West Point, who now seem to be trying to sabotage his nomination.”
READ MORE – Sunny Hostin Forced to ‘Clarify’ Baseless Smears About Pete Hegseth on ‘The View’
