‘How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job?’ Mullin asked
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) questioned Tuesday how many senators had “shown up drunk to vote” and cheated on their wives after Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) grilled secretary of defense nominee Pete Hegseth over his drinking habits and marital infidelity.
“How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? And don’t tell me you haven’t seen it because I know you have,” Mullin said. “And then how many senators do you know have gotten a divorce for cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No.”
“But it’s for show. You guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy because a man has made a mistake,” Mullin continued. “It is so ridiculous that you guys hold yourself as this higher standard, and you forget you got a big plank in your eye.”
Earlier in Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, Kaine, a failed vice presidential candidate, questioned how seriously Hegseth took oaths given that he’d cheated on past wives. Kaine also asked about Hegseth’s relationship with alcohol and if he’d ever arrived at his workplace drunk.
“You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would stand here and say you’re completely cleared,” Kaine said. “Many of your work colleagues have said that you show up for work under the influence of alcohol or drunk. I know you’ve denied that, but you would agree if that was the case, that would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense?”
Hegseth, who’s been married three times, repeatedly testified that he’s “not a perfect person.” But during his confirmation hearing, Hegseth gave emotional testimony on his religious reformation, saying, “Redemption is real.”
Kaine was Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the former secretary of state’s failed 2016 presidential bid. During the campaign, Kaine dismissed Hillary Clinton’s connection to President Bill Clinton’s infamous White House sex scandal involving Monica Lewinsky.
“When I’m talking to people on the campaign trail, they’re not asking me about old controversies,” Kaine said. “Past controversies aren’t that important to me now.”
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