Hegseth’s mother threw him under the bus in 2018. Don’t expect the same if she’s called to testify.

Peggy Hesgeth wrote a scathing email to her son in 2018, which has just been published by The New York Times. Don’t expect her to keep any of those words if she is asked to testify during his confirmation hearing.

There was already a long list of reasons why Hegseth should never be confirmed as Secretary of Defense, from CHARGES of sexual assaultto the probability that he will fail an FBI background checkto the fact that he is completely unqualified for the job, compared to his own co-workers throwing him under the bus on rape allegations.

And now we have a new one to add to the list… his own mother, who accused Hegseth of “mistreatment of women for years”.

The mother of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, wrote him an email in 2018 saying he had routinely mistreated women for years and showed a lack of character.

“On behalf of all the women (and I know there are many) that you have abused in some way, I say… get help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote, declaring she still loved him.

She also wrote: “I have no respect for any man who disgraces, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother it pains and embarrasses me to say this, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

The New York Times contacted Hegseth, and of course she tried to walk back what she wrote, claiming she “sent her son an immediate follow-up email at the time apologizing for what she wrote.”

I don’t believe that for a minute, and if you’re reading the entire text of the emailI don’t think anyone with an ounce of sense will not believe that either.

son,

I tried to keep quiet about your character and behavior, but after listening to how you made Samantha feel today, I can’t keep quiet. And as a woman and your mother, I feel I must speak up…

You are a woman abuser – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man who disgraces, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother it pains and embarrasses me to say this, but it is the sad, sad truth.

I’m no saint, far from it.. so don’t throw that in my face. but your abuse of women over the years (dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, demeaning, contempt) needs to be let go.

Sam is a good mother and a good person (under the circumstances you’ve created) and I know deep down you know that. Trying to label her as “unstable” for your own benefit is contemptuous and abusive. Do you have any sense of decency left? She didn’t ask for or deserve anything you gave her. Neither did Meredith.

I know you think this is a big competition and I’ve taken her side…good…we’re on the side of good and you’re not. (Go ahead and call me righteous, I don’t care.)

Don’t you dare run to her and cry foul that we shared…that’s what babies do. It’s time someone (I wish it was a strong man) stood up to your abusive behavior and called it out, especially against women

We still love you, but we are broken by your behavior and lack of character. I don’t want to write emails like this and I never thought I would. If it damages our relationship further, then so be it, but at least I said my side. (Expressed)

And yes, we are praying for you (and you don’t deserve to know how we pray, so skip the snarky answer)

I don’t want an answer to that… I don’t want to argue with you. You turn around and abuse everything I say anyway. But… on behalf of all the women (and I know there are many) that you have abused in some way, I say… get some help and take an honest look at yourself…

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She wants to Fox a year later, on Mother’s Day, and delights her son, which you can watch in the clip above.

I wonder how much worse things have to get for Hegseth before he retires.

If his mother is called to testify, I don’t expect her to throw her son under the bus, but just reading what she wrote in 2018 about him will be damning enough in itself. I’ll pop the popcorn, watching him twist himself into knots trying to explain.