MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell claimed Thursday on “The ReidOut” that President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, is not close to getting a majority vote in the U.S. Senate to secure his confirmation.
O’Donnell said, “Pete Hegseth does not have 51 votes as of tonight. This may come as a surprise to readers of The New York Times. He also does not have Joni Ernst’s vote, even though The New York Times today massive story today about how Donald Trump has resuscitated the Pete Hegseth nomination. They didn’t identify a single senator who has become a yes vote to create a majority vote.”
He continued, “When you get down to the final sentence of the article, you discover, oh, wait, they put it in very blurred language, maybe Joni Ernst hasn’t made up her mind yet, and she hasn’t. When a senator comes out and says as she did, I support the process, she supports the confirmation process. The New York Times treats that as a change of position for Joni Ernst. Here’s how you change your position, you say yes, I’m voting yes.”
He added, “Mitch McConnell has not said yes. Susan Collins has not said yet. They’re not close to 50 ‘yes’ yet.”
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