A Fox News panelist got into a heated argument with a fellow guest over defense secretary nominee and former Fox host Pete Hegseth on Sunday.
Appearing on Fox’s MediaBuzz alongside host Howard Kurtz, Oakland Corps adviser Lucy Caldwell and OutKick founder Clay Travis engaged in a fiery back-and-forth after the latter referred to Hegseth as a “womanizer” instead of acknowledging the sexual assault allegations made against him.
During the panel discussion, Travis criticized the media’s coverage of Hegseth’s nomination saying, “They’ve come after Pete Hegseth with everything they got. They started with, ‘Oh he’s a womanizer. You can’t trust him.’ His wife’s fabulous. They have a fantastic family. He’s doing really well.”
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At that point, Caldwell interrupts him to say, “Not a womanizer! Accused of a sex crime! That’s totally not the same thing. There’s a police report about it.”
“Let’s not use the term womanizer,” she continued. “Defend it. Don’t defend it. But don’t say womanizer. That’s not what’s at issue here. An alleged sex crime is what’s at issue here.”
“Hold on Lucy,” Travis then says. “What you are doing is everything that’s wrong with the way these are covered. You said ‘accused of a sex crime.’ He was actually cleared of a sex crime. They investigated. The woman lied. There was no basis for it.”
Fox News host Howard Kurtz then interrupts to say, “He wasn’t prosecuted,” prompting the three to talk over each other as Travis reiterated that Hegseth was “cleared” while Caldwell doubled down calling it “wrong” and “incorrect.”
A woman accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her in 2017. In a statement released in November, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said that her office declined to pursue the case in early 2018 because “no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Hegseth denied wrongdoing at the time and told police that the encounter was consensual. Although no charges were ultimately filed against Hegseth, the former Fox News host later entered into a settlement agreement with the accuser that included a confidentiality clause and an undisclosed monetary payment.
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, acknowledged the settlement agreement and told CNN that although Hegseth characterizes the incident as a “consensual sexual encounter,” Parlatore was worried the accuser would make a public allegation against him during the #MeToo movement that could have affected his job.
Travis later reposted the footage to X, describing it as “TV fireworks.” He added; “Get your popcorn.”
