Sen. Mullin Blasts Colleagues Over Grilling of Hegseth

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., blasted his colleagues in the upper chamber on Tuesday over their line of questioning at Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing, saying they were grilling Hegseth over allegations about a drinking problem and sexual misconduct when their own qualifications were dubious.

Mediaite reported that Mullin took aim specifically at Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., for Peters' criticism of Hegseth's lack of managerial experience and for his comparison of the Senate to a "board of directors" for federal jobs.

"There's a lot of senators here I wouldn't have on my board because there's no qualifications except your age, and you've got to be living in the state, and you're a citizen of the United States to be a senator," Mullin said.

The Oklahoma senator argued that Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran, was actually more qualified to serve as Defense secretary than most senators were to serve in their positions.

"I think it's so hypocritical of senators, especially on the other side of the aisle, to be talking about his qualifications to be the secretary of defense, and yet your qualifications aren't any better," Mullin said. "You guys aren't any more qualified to be the senator than I'm qualified to be the senator, except we're lucky enough to be here."

"But let me read you what the qualifications of the secretary of Defense is, because I googled it and went through a lot of different sites, and, really, it's hard to see, but, in general, the U.S. secretary of Defense position is filled by a civilian," he continued. "That's it."

Mullin also called out the "hypocrisy" of his fellow senators and asked how many thought that past mistakes should disqualify them from their roles before accusing them of putting on a "show."

"How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night?" he asked. "Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? And don't tell me you haven't seen it because I know you have. And then how many senators do you know have gotten a divorce before, cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No."

"But it's for show," he added. "You guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy because a man's made a mistake, and you want to sit there and say that he's not qualified."

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