AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
The White House vehemently denied an NPR report Monday that the process of replacing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had begun, but conservative radio host Erick Erickson posted a series of tweets insisting the story was valid.
Hegseth was under fire Monday after a stunning series of reports over the weekend, including a article by The New York Times revealing that he had shared details of a sensitive attack against the Houthis in yet another a Signal group chat — this time in messages that included his wife and brother. Later Sunday evening, Politico published a scathing column by former chief Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot, a personal friend of Hegseth’s who had resigned from his position a week prior, absolutely eviscerating the “total chaos” of the Defense Secretary’s tenure thus far.
President Donald Trump defended Hegseth, but NPR’s Monday report nonetheless said the White House had “begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the story and called it “fake news.”
Erickson posted several tweets Monday afternoon that pushed back on the White House’s efforts to rebuff the NPR report, citing his own sources among White House staff as portraying an administration that was internally divided on the topic. He hedged his prediction somewhat, tweeting that there were “no guarantees” the defenestration of Hegseth would actually happen because Trump was still leaning against it. Still, Erickson was adamant that people within the administration were “looking” at “possible SecDef replacements” and voicing concerns there would be more shoes to drop, expressing the belief that would persuade Trump to cut Hegseth loose.
Erickson shrugged off some of the critical responses attacking his tweets, characterizing the responses as “stupid” and “whining,” as well as pointing out that his critics did not have to follow him or read his tweets.
Mediaite reached out to Erickson for comment, but did not receive a reply.
