Embattled chief 'throwing Trump under the bus' and plotting next move: Behar

As calls for his impeachment continue, Pete Hegseth is pushing back against claims that he should be out of a job. As the impeachment pursuit continues, The View’s Joy Behar says Hegseth is looking to follow in President Donald Trump’s footsteps by possibly running for office, and he may ultimately want his shot at the presidency.

“My sources also tell me, my spies,” Behar joked before adding, “that he is exploring running for president, or running for Senate from Tennessee. Hegseth.” Behar’s co-hosts at the roundtable sighed at the revelation.

Earlier in the conversation, Behar spoke about how she believes Hegseth is doing what he can to distance himself from Trump and any accountability related to his controversial decision-making. Behar pointed to Hegseth’s own words during his press briefing responding to articles of impeachment, where the United States Secretary of Defense called the impeachment articles a “political spectacle.” According to Behar, there is ongoing inner turmoil between Trump and his team.

“He’s throwing Trump under the bus, but he’s doing it in a very subtle way. There’s no loyalty between Trump and his people. So it works both ways. He said, ‘I ran the cartels. Every one was a lawful operation ordered by the commander in chief, then ordered by myself.’ He called the Iran war a ‘historic event effort only made possible by a courageous commander in chief.’ He claimed, ‘Americans are lining up to serve President Trump’s Department of War.’ So he says he’s just following orders. We’ve heard that before,” Behar asserted.

As of now, Trump is vowing to stand by Hegseth. He gave him an “A” plus for his work at the Pentagon following outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introducing eight articles of impeachment against him. “Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. In a separate post, Trump said of Hegseth’s press conference that it was a “great job by Pete Hegseth — A MUST SEE.”

Trump has publicly backed Hegseth, but sources say he’s doing the opposite in private. He reportedly has asked his advisers and allies about the defense secretary’s standing, The Hill previously reported.

During his press briefing, Hegseth called the impeachment articles a “farce” and “stunt,” saying, “In the 250 years of our American republic, no secretary of War or secretary of Defense has ever been impeached for carrying out lawful military operations, and in our case, successful ones at that.” He also accused Massie of attempting to impeach him over policy disagreements, calling it a “personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” saying, “That’s what it is. Policy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause.”