Nothing gets the legacy media salivating like good, old-fashioned character assassination, especially if the target is a prominent Republican.
Sharon LaFranier must have been drooling like Pavlov's journalist while typing her hit piece on Pete Hegseth for The New York Times.
The article concerns an e-mail sent by Hegseth's mother, Penelopy.
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 displayed a lack of character.
In a phone interview with The New York Times, Mrs. Hegseth explains that she was angry when she sent the e-mail and immediately sent an apology.
Mrs. Hegseth, in a phone interview with The New York Times on Friday, said that she had sent her son an immediate follow-up email at the time apologizing for what she had written. She said she had fired off the original email “in anger, with emotion” at a time when he and his wife were going through a very difficult divorce.
The entire context of the original e-mail is quoted in the article. There's no need for us to copy the text of the e-mail here. In fact, Sharon was so eager to drag Hegseth's name through the mud that she posted it without a paywall.
In the interview, she defended her son and disavowed the sentiments she had expressed in the initial email about his character and treatment of women. “It is not true. It has never been true,” she said. She added: “I know my son. He is a good father, husband.” She said that publishing the contents of the first email was “disgusting.”
Trump Spokesman Steven Cheung responded to The New York Times article.
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Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, said in an email that The Times was “despicable” for publishing “an out-of-context snippet” of Mrs. Hegseth’s exchange with her son, adding that Mrs. Hegseth had “expressed regret for her emotional message and apologized.”
The New York Times obtained the e-mail from an unnamed source they describe as having ties to the family.
Mrs. Hegseth forwarded a copy of her email to Samantha the same night she sent it to her son, according to documents reviewed by The Times. The Times obtained a copy of the email from another person with ties to the Hegseth family. The email does not describe in detail the circumstances that prompted Mrs. Hegseth to write it.
Leftist Twitter was quick to seize the opportunity to pounce on the story.
Fellow military veteran and former Senate candidate Sean Parnell, no stranger to being the target of a legacy media hit piece, has taken issue with The New York Times article.
The post continues.
Pete has children. They will read this. Their friends will read it.It is irresponsible as hell to even publish such a thing.Democrats don’t have to deal with this BS. It’s sickening.
He has a point. When it comes to the legacy media, Republicans are treated differently.
Does anyone believe that an e-mail from 2018 would have suddenly surfaced if Pete were a Democrat?
What's a pregnant nanny and an accusation of physical abuse when you're trying to save democracy from a guy who is literally Hitler?
If this story gains traction, you can bet your bottom dollar they will keep digging for more.
Families argue sometimes. We say things out of anger that we don't really mean. We apologize, and we will move on.
The post continues.
The Political Criminals in DC are scared and they should be because they're scumbags. And they're about to be prosecuted and put in prison some of them for treason. So have at it!
The legacy media used to have a great influence on public opinion. They still do, just not in the way they intend.
Pete Hegseth and possibly his mom will have the opportunity to defend his honor during the confirmation process. You can guarantee Democrats won't pass up the chance to bring up every single word of this e-mail.
As for The New York Times.
Time will tell if this article has any effect on Hegseth's confirmation. It was a low blow.
Even for The New York Times.
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