Fox News host Jesse Watters championed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s military efforts, saying he should not be impeached because his actions were not unlawful.
The anchor’s remarks came after House Republicans quashed a resolution that would have impeached the defense secretary. The effort, brought forward by Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and backed by Democrats, would have the Pentagon chief removed for his conduct in office and his handling of the war in Iran.
“Bill Clinton hit the Chinese embassy. The only thing he got impeached for was oral sex,” Watters told his co-hosts on “The Five.” “So this is crazy town. Everything was lawful.”
Watters compared Hegseth’s actions to strikes made by former presidents, including Obama’s Libya strikes and Biden hitting Yemen.
“Pete is taking this on the chin for what? The most surgical, lethal, and, I don’t know, brilliant military excursions we’ve seen in a very long time,” Watters said.
Massie, a Kentucky Republican who will leave Congress in January after losing his seat to a Trump-backed opponent, said Hegseth has “knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders.” He claimed that the defense secretary waged war against Yemen and Venezuela without congressional authorization.
In his first press conference since May on Tuesday, Hegseth said that his impeachment attempt felt like a “political spectacle.”
“I actually think what Pete did today proves he should be out there more,” Dana Perino said of his rare press conference. “He’s a very effective communicator.”
The defense secretary undercut the death toll tied to American military men in the Iran war. He said that 18 Americans died in Operation Epic Fury when the Pentagon count puts the number of U.S. troops who died in operations related to the Iran war at 23.
Hegseth also only called on conservative outlets at the press conference, fielding questions from reporters at One America News Network, Real America’s Voice, The Daily Wire, The Daily Signal, Fox News and The Washington Times.
When Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson asked whether Hegseth agreed with Vice President JD Vance that the Iran war was a major reason Republicans lost the midterm elections. Hegseth dodged the question, saying that “politics is not really my thing” and continued to defend the war.
President Donald Trump said that Hegseth’s news conference was a “A PLUS, PLUS, PLUS” in a Truth Social post before calling Massie “a total loser.”
