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CNN's Jim Acosta winced as a conservative commentator justified defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth needing his mother to defend his character amid allegations of his past drinking and mistreatment of women.

Penelope Hegseth appeared on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday to recant a scathing email she sent to her son that was obtained and published by the New York Times, saying he no longer mistreated women as she had alleged in the 2018 message, and she reportedly called senators on his behalf to calm their concerns about his character.

"What do you make of the role that she has played this week?" Acosta said. "We saw her go out on Fox to defend her son and Axios reports she's been calling senators directly on his behalf. You know, I'm just wondering, I mean, [Ronald] Reagan used to talk about peace through strength. Are we seeing strength being projected out to the world when it comes to the Hegseth nomination if his mother is having to call senators?"

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Conservative pundit Shermichael Singleton mounted a defense, saying the nominee's mother was forced off the sidelines by what he described as questionable reporting.

"I think his mother is out there because some outlets have printed and reported on a previous email she sent several years ago, I think seven years ago, to be exact," Singleton said, "and she feels the need and I think she should, to come out and clarify what was going on between her, her son and their family at that particular time. I think she did an outstanding job on Fox News and, again, friends of mine that I have who actually work for Republican senators, and I've been talking to and texting with a lot of them to just understand where things appear to be moving from their perspective. These things are absolutely making a difference."

Acosta grimaced, saying that the nominee to lead the Department of Defense should not need his mother to vouch for him.

"I'm just, you know, if you're having to have your mother call senators to defend themselves, I know, but Shermichael, to have to have your mother call senators to to get you cleared for secretary of defense, right?" Acosta said. "I mean he goes out there with tattoos, showing off his biceps and everything."

Singleton didn't see anything wrong with that, saying that nominees' families frequently speak up for them.

"I've gone through the confirmation process before, having worked for a former Cabinet secretary and you're going to have statements from the spouse, from siblings, from children, from grandchildren, from friends, from neighbors," Singleton said. "So I'm not opposed to having the mother of a secretary potential secretary who would know him very well, saying, this is who this person actually is. I'm just trying to see if there are allegations against this."

Acosta acknowledged his defense and turned to Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, asking what the situation might look like if the parties were reversed and a Democratic nominee needed his own mother to cover for him.

"Oh, I mean, they would be going out of their minds, but I think you hit the nail on the head," Cardona said. "When was the last time that we have spent segments talking about a Democratic nominee, right? I mean, this is where and, frankly, any other nominee from a Republican president, this goes to the heart of Trump's judgment. The fact of the matter is, he said he was going to bring in the best people, he's actually bringing in the crappiest people who have disgusting allegations, who have no experience in the job for one of the most important positions in the U.S. government."

"This does not bode well for Trump," Cardona added, "it does not bode well for the United States of America."

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MSNBC's Michael Steele laughed at Donald Trump's tariff threats after Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida to ask the president-elect about the proposal himself.

Trudeau had dinner with the former president Friday at Mar-a-Lago after he threatened to impose 25-percent tariffs on Canadian products if the neighboring country didn't stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across the northern border, and the former Republican National Committee chair tried to imagine how their conversation went.

"I get it, I get what Tim Ryan was saying about, yeah, you got to go do the thing," Steele said. "I would have done it from Canada. You know, look, it's like, I think this playing into Donald Trump's ego is part of the problem and, you know, bullies bully, and we know he's going to do whatever he is going to do. You've just got to draw the line with him but, you know, Canada has to figure out for itself, and he figured it would be smart to go down to Florida and spend time and hopefully not get Donald Trump to do the thing he's going to do anyway."

The prime minister issued a statement afterward noting that tariffs would raise the cost of consumer goods, which Trump had promised to reduce during his campaign, but Trudeau said he had no reason to doubt the president-elect would carry through on his threat.

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"Here's the thing," said MSNBC's Alicia Menendez. "There's almost like, go ahead – 25 percent tariff on these goods? During, in the aftermath of an election where people were saying, the price of goods, the cost of living is my motivation for coming out to vote."

"So my question, my question to Trudeau is what did you put on the table to tell him he needs to back off of stupid," Steele added.

"Maybe a calculator," Menendez interjected. "Let me explain to you what it's going to cost you over here."

"Draw a map for you," Steele offered. "You're going to see a 30 percent increase on the cost of good. The reality to your point of where the voters are, they, and Tim said this as well. Someone understands their pain and their problem. Well, he is going to bring more pain with this policy. It is not a policy that alleviates the economic struggle you are in, it exacerbates it. The thing about it is, again, I just don't know if people really fully appreciate how interconnected all aspects of our economy are. It's not just leveling a tariff on produce or on manufactured goods, it is the ripple effect, how that impacts the supply chain of other goods and services. So, you know, when you want to play the tariff game, there's going to be a price that the American people are going to pay and, you know, I guess Trudeau is trying to get ahead of that a little bit."

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