Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) defiantly fired back at those who were criticizing him for meeting with Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for Secretary of Defense, in an interview Thursday with CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju.

Since Trump announced his intention to nominate the former Fox News host to head the Defense Department, there have been a multitude of critical stories about him, including disturbing accusations of sexual assault, repeated alleged incidents of alcohol abuse, his multiple reported infidelities, and an email his mother sent him in which she called him an “abuser of women.”

Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and his mother has walked back the email and staunchly defended her son. Nonetheless, his critics have still raised concerns, including how his résumé is far thinner than past nominees for a job that entails exercising command and control over our all military service branches, overseeing a nearly $900 billion budget, and supervising millions of active duty service personnel, National Guard members, reservists, and civilian employees.

Raju caught up with Fetterman in the hallway outside his senate office and asked him about being the first Democrat in the Senate to meet with Hegseth, who is currently making the rounds to chat with senators and hopefully win their support.

“Senator, thanks for talking to me,” said Raju. “You’re going to become the first Democrat to meet with Pete Hegseth later today. What do you want to hear from him?”

Fetterman replied that the two were “just going to have a straight up conversation” that was “all going to be off the record”:

It’s just going to be — hey, I’m going to meet the guy. And honestly, I’ve never, I’ve never heard of him before he was nominated. So it’s an opportunity to just have a discussion on a lot of kind of issues. And I suspect there’s some things we might agree on, in terms of military, whether it’s China or Israel, and maybe disagree, some perhaps on the Ukraine.

But I think it’s an opportunity to have a conversation. I don’t really — I’m not sure why it would be controversial to anybody, if he’s the individual who could potentially be the next secretary of defense.

I think it’s — uh, I mean, I’m not just the senator for Pennsylvania, for my voters, or Democrats — it’s for all of us.

And now we have received a lot of support, calls into our office saying, hey, you know, we want to have a conversation. So I’m just doing my job, I see that.

“Are you going to ask him about all of these allegations of misconduct, excessive drinking, sexual assault?” asked Raju.

Fetterman replied that “of course, there’s going to be an FBI vetting and there’s going to be a committee hearing” and “all of that would happen,” so this would be “just part of a conversation on all of those things.”

“He has denied those allegations –” said Raju.

“I’ve read, I’ve read that,” said Fetterman.

“Do you believe those denials?” asked Raju.

Fetterman said yes he was “aware” that there were allegations, and there “hasn’t been any formal charges or criminal ones,” but this was something “that perhaps might come up in that conversation today.”

“Do you think that some of those accusers should come forward publicly and put their name on this and, or at least he should release one of them from a nondisclosure agreement?” asked Raju.

“No, no, I really think it’s just part of whoever wants to come out or plans to, that’s fine,” said Fetterman. “But I believe that’s probably going to come out on the FBI vetting — or in the in the hearing.”

Raju asked Fetterman if he had “any concerns” about Hegseth’s qualifications, since even though he was a veteran, “he’s never run something as so significant as the Pentagon.”

“I think we’ve had a kind of a similar conversation where it’s like when the other side wins, they pick the people,” said Fetterman. “Now, he certainly wouldn’t have been in my top ten or choice because I’ve never — I wasn’t familiar with him at all.”

Fetterman added that this was “where we are” and he thought it was “responsible” for him as the senator from Pennsylvania “to have a conversation” and “establish some type of relationship” with someone who “could potentially have this incredibly important role.”

“Are you open to supporting him?” asked Raju.

“Well, I’m open to is having a conversation. That’s where I’m at,” the senator replied, adding that “a lot still has to happen,” like the FBI vetting and the hearing.

Raju brought up some of Trump’s other “controversial picks” like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kash Patel, asking if “any of those give you pause at this point?”

“All I am saying is that Democrats or other people can freak out over anyone that was nominated, and I am not that guy, and I’m open to have a conversation” with anyone, “especially really important ones,” said Fetterman, saying he had met with and was going to vote for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who have been nominated for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of State, respectively.

“There are people that we may agree on a lot of things or disagree on other things, but if these people are going to hold these kinds of offices and we are in the business of working and getting along with people that disagree with some of the things we have, and we try to find the things that we can possibly agree on for the best possible outcomes,” Fetterman continued, pointing out that he represented Pennsylvania and Trump won his state, “so it’s all part of the conversation. And that’s why I have decided to engage with people that are going to be incredibly important parts of the new administration.”

Raju brought up the criticism from “some folks on the left” who were saying that Fetterman was “giving them a veneer of bipartisanship.”

“Well, again, they’re entitled to their opinions,” he said, “but to me, I don’t know why it’s it’s controversial to have a dialog with the people that are in a part of the next administration.” These critics can “vent or rant on Twitter,” he added, “but I’m here to have conversations and I think I’m just doing my job.”

Raju closed the interview bringing up the Pittsburgh Steelers upcoming game on Sunday with the Philadelphia Eagles — with the senator declaring that “the Steelers are going to definitely beat the Eagles.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post Fetterman Fires Back at Critics Who ‘Freak Out’ Because He’s Meeting with Hegseth: ‘Just Doing My Job’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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