WASHINGTON (TNND) -- Penelope Hegseth, the mother of President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense Pete Hegseth, took to Fox News on Wednesday to defend her son after The New York Times reported on a heated email she wrote.
The Times on Friday published details of a 2018 email penned by Penelope Hegseth. That message condemned Pete Hegseth for allegedly using women to inflate his "power and ego."
"On behalf of all the women (and I know it's many) you have abused in some way, I say get some help and take an honest look at yourself," the email to Pete Hegseth reportedly read. "I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth."
Penelope Hegseth told The Times she followed the communication with an immediate apology. She reiterated this on Fox News, saying her stance was blown out of proportion.
"I really hope that you will not listen to the media and that you will listen to Pete," Penelope Hegseth told viewers.
The email, she noted, was written as Pete Hegseth was going through a messy divorce with his then-wife. The mother admitted to having been swept up in the emotions of the moment rather than fully thinking through her message.
"I wrote that in haste, I wrote that with deep emotions, I wrote that as a parent and about two hours later -- my husband tells me I should think through things a little bit more -- but Pete and I are very passionate people," she said. "I wrote that out of love and about two hours later I retracted that with an apology email, but no one has seen that."
Penelope Hegseth went on to address "the media," claiming she was threatened to issue a statement on the story. She explained "part of today is to discredit the media and how they operate."
The Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander refuted her claim Wednesday, saying the publication had followed standard practice of seeking comment from relevant parties.
"In no way was Ms. Hegseth threatened," Stadtlander said.
Though The Times mentioned Penelope's apology email in its reporting, Vice President-elect JD Vance accused "the media" of overlooking that communication.
"Pete Hegseth's mom on Fox and Friends this morning defending her son," he wrote via X. "She points out that she sent an emotional email, and then apologized two hours later. The media never talks about the apology because they're trying to destroy him; not tell the truth."