Pete Hegseth's mother discusses angry email: 'He's redeemed, forgiven, changed'

Penelope Hegseth addressed the controversy surrounding a fiery email she sent her son Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, in an interview with "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday.

The email, which Penelope sent to him in 2018, said Pete was an “abuser of women” and that she has “no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego,” according to the New York Times. It came after an unidentified woman in 2017 alleged in a police report that Pete Hegseth had sexually assaulted her, which he has denied. Hegseth paid his accuser an undisclosed sum in a settlement.

But Penelope Hegseth said during the Fox News interview that Pete Hegseth, 44, is not the same man he was seven years ago.

“Pete is a new person. He's redeemed, forgiven, changed. I think we all are after seven years. I believe he's the man for the job,” she said.

“I just hope people will get to know who Pete is today, especially our dear female senators, that you would listen to him, listen with your heart to the truth of Pete,” she added, in light of reports that her son may have trouble getting confirmed by the Senate.

Penelope Hegseth said she wrote the email out of “haste” and with “deep emotions.” She explained that her son had been going through a contentious divorce with his second wife at the time she wrote it.

His second wife filed for divorce after Pete Hegseth impregnated a co-worker at a nonprofit group, according to the Times.

Hegseth later became a host on Fox News. Recent reports have alleged that his drinking has alarmed past coworkers.

“Our job as parents are to correct. They are to speak truth. And I am a passionate person like Pete, and sometimes emotional words come out. I don't believe any of that is true, any of it,” she said.

Her interview comes as both NBC and the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump team is considering replacing Hegseth with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. However, Hegseth told CBS News on Wednesday that he spoke with Trump who said he will continue backing him for the position.

"I spoke to the President elect this morning. He said keep going keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way," Pete Hegseth said, adding he won't back down.

"Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. I'm here for the war fighters," he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pete Hegseth's mother defends him on 'Fox & Friends:' 'He's redeemed'