TWOFER: Pete Hegseth Speaks Directly to YOU: I’ve Faced Fire Before. I Won’t Back Down…

On these pages 18 years ago I penned an article titled “More Troops, Please.” I was a young U.S. Army lieutenant who had just completed a combat tour in Iraq, and believed we needed more troops and a new strategy to turn the war around. I had seen a lot, been through a lot, and believed in my troops and the mission.

Ever since then, I have been fighting for our troops.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that op-ed launched my next mission—fighting for the warriors on the home front. Like many veterans of my generation, when I came home I jumped into a new mission—always looking for a way to channel the sense of purpose that had been unleashed in combat.

For me, that next mission meant taking over Vets for Freedom, an organization for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We traveled the country, stormed Capitol Hill, and returned to the battlefield to report on progress. We were young, bold and battle-hardened. Our passion was for the troops still fighting—and we had their backs.

We weren’t perfect, but we were always honest and earnest. We raised money honestly and spent it earnestly—to advance our cause. We weren’t political experts, but we were patriotic believers. Like veterans returning from any war, we drank beers to manage the reality of what we had faced. But we never did anything improper, and we treated everyone with respect. We had a new mission and fought for it.

In the 2008 election, we fought hard for John McCain to defeat Barack Obama. We were a bit naive, so we doubled down on our political spending at the very end, when other groups pulled back. It was a tactical mistake, which left us in debt (like most political campaigns). But I stayed with the organization until all the debt was paid off and outstanding contracts negotiated.

Shortly thereafter,…

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Megyn Kelly is joined by Pete Hegseth, President-Elect Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee, for an exclusive interview about what Trump told him this morning, why he’s speaking out and fighting the false media narratives now, whether he thinks this is another “Brett Kavanaugh” situation, the importance of him “finding my two Js,” the accusation of rape, what really happened, the settlement he reached with the accuser, how the media spins allegations and leaves out exonerating details, finding Jesus as his savior and changing his life, reports about excessive drinking, the allegations of his actions in a strip club, the accusations of financial mismanagement at veteran organizations, his actual record when it comes to helping vets, the emotion he feels seeing his former Fox colleagues defend him, the smears against him and whether it makes others reluctant to serve their country, why he’ll continue fighting to stay as the nominee and welcomes an FBI background check, what he’d do on day one to reform the military, the email that was made public from his mom, the important role she has played in his life, and more.