WATCH: ‘USA’ Chants Break Out As Pete Hegseth Enters His Confirmation Hearing

The Trump transition team may have outdone itself at Tuesday’s Senate hearing, where dozens of pro-Pete Hegseth supporters waited to welcome President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled nominee as he walked in to face a panel of skeptical U.S. senators who must vote to advance his nomination to the floor later this week.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and military veteran, received a hero’s welcome as he entered a hearing room of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Applause and whistles of approval rained down on Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Defense while he made his way to the witness stand, protected by Dirksen Building staffers anticipating protestors who might attempt to assault him. The camera-ready former newsman was all smiles and handshakes along the way and greeted well-wishers in the audience as he ambled down the main aisle toward his seat. “Thank you,” mouthed Hegseth, turning and pointing to the audience which immediately began to chant back their support of the embattled nominee. “USA! USA!” his fans shouted for nearly 30 seconds as he took time to shake the hands of the senators who grilled him on Tuesday.

Typically, controversial Senate hearings are pockmarked by disruptions from critics of witnesses, especially those vying for seats on the U.S. Supreme Court. After Justice Brett Kavanaugh was accused of raping a woman while in college, his Senate confirmation hearings devolved into a weeklong spectacle of theatrics by far-left protestors eager to mug for the cameras as they made their point about the accusations against him. This time around, however, it may have been the work of the Trump transition team to fill the room with MAGA faithful who rose to Hegseth’s defense, preventing opponents from gaining more seats in the committee room than they were otherwise able to. Still, during his five minutes of opening remarks, Hegseth suffered at least three outbursts by liberal audience members who accused him of being a misogynist, abuser of women, and other pejoratives that, unfortunately for the protestors, weren’t very audible as they were dragged out of the room by members of the security team.

President-elect Trump expressed his full support of Hegseth as recently as last month after a series of stories in the New Yorker, New York Times, and other mainstream outlets detailed a series of allegations against the nominee, including one article relaying an email Hegseth’s mother had sent him following his divorce. Since then, both Trump and his mother have gone public with their words of encouragement for Hegseth to continue down the path to confirmation. Allies to the president-elect say he is eager to see his nominees fight for their perches, especially following the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz for attorney general earlier that month.

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