Pete Hegseth: Democrats and the media “are the agents of Russia. Not Donald Trump”
Hegseth on NY Times report on 2020 Russian meddling: “This is all an attempt to discredit President Trump, that's it”
Published
Citation From the February 21, 2020, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): They are talking about this story that was broken in The New York Times where apparently Intel officials went up to Capitol Hill and briefed in a classified setting some members of the House, including Adam Schiff, and said the Russians are trying to meddle in the 2020 election, not only to get President Trump elected but also to be involved in the Democratic primaries as well. And so now it looks like we are right back to where we started.
PETE HEGSETH (WEEKEND CO-HOST): All right, let's be clear about what this really all is. This is all an attempt to discredit President Trump, that's it -- delegitimize him all the way, that's why they want to talk about it.
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): So if he wins, that's why he wins again.
HEGSETH: So that's why he wins again. Every single media member in that clip, every single Democrat that parrots what they are saying, they're working together, they are the agents of Russia. This is what Russia wants -- they want to sow discord and misinformation and delegitimize our republic, destabilize it, because they are not our friends, they know that when we are strong they are in a worse position.
DOOCY: Which they have done for years.
HEGSETH: Which they have done for years before President Trump. This is what they do. The Democrats, the media fell for it. And they keep falling for it because they hate Trump so much they are willing to parrot what the Kremlin is saying. They are the agents of Russia. Not Donald Trump, not this White House. It is the people that are spinning this and continuing to drive this narrative. Not a single vote was changed in 2016 by the Russians.