Pete Hegseth, defense secretary nominee, has "serious baggage" and is not the right pick, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is the "perfect fit" that President-elect Donald Trump needs, Newsmax's Greg Kelly said.
"No one's perfect, but it's a perfect fit," Kelly said Wednesday on his program, "Greg Kelly Reports," about Florida's Republican governor. "Administrating the Pentagon, the biggest federal bureaucracy, and making it lethal again and not woke and all those things. I think it's a perfect fit."
Kelly said he did not support DeSantis' run for the presidency this year, "but he's been a very good governor of Florida."
"When you're the governor of Florida, you're responsible for a lot of things," said Kelly. "That is the kind of resume that really qualifies you to run the Pentagon. ... I think DeSantis, if the opportunity becomes available, and I think it's going to very soon, he should take it because he's not good at running for president."
Hegseth, meanwhile, "hasn't done nearly enough for MAGA to warrant the Department of Defense job," and his "baggage," including reports of sexual misconduct and alcohol use, along with reports of an email his mother wrote him and then rescinded, are also concerns, said Kelly.
"There are some problems here, sorry, big time," he added.
"According to Pete's lawyer, Pete is blackmailable," Kelly said. "[He was] blackmailed by a woman who falsely accuses him, but he pays money to her, anyway. Is he a new man?"
Hegseth has been on a media blitz this week to fight against the allegations, including posts on X, a podcast with Megyn Kelly, and writing an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal.
Hegseth's mother also praised him on Fox News, his former colleagues defended his record on the air, and his attorney has been speaking with the media.
Kelly earlier this week questioned Hegseth's nomination, commenting Monday on his program that the Fox News host and military veteran has a "lot to offer," but "the secretary of defense thing is not going to happen. It just can't, not after what we're learning about."
Kelly on Wednesday acknowledged that people are comparing Hegseth's information to Trump's, but in the president-elect's case, "we've been vetting the guy for 40 years. We know him."
But most of what's known about Hegseth is what has been coming out, Kelly said.
"Most of us met him just the other day, and it's great that he served in the military," said Kelly, adding that for nearly all of the past decade, Hegseth has been on Fox News.
Kelly said if he was a senator questioning Hegseth, he'd want to know about his journalism career.
"I would ask him … tell me about the most important Jan. 6 story you ever did. Have you ever done anything about Jan. 6? Have you ever done anything about Ashli Babbitt?" said Kelly. "What about when Fox News called Arizona like what, 20 minutes after the polls closed and changed the course of history? Did you repeat that claim the next day? Were you on the set?"
Kelly acknowledged that Hegseth is "better than any of the worst things he's ever done and redemption is available," be he believes the Jan. 6 protesters were "abandoned by Fox News."
"You don't have to be passionate about Jan. 6 issues," Kelly said. "You don't have to be passionate about election integrity, but you got to be passionate about something, right? Are you passionate about the right things, Pete Hegseth? I wonder."