JUST IN: Top Democrat Senator Suggests He May Support Pete Hegseth: ‘It’s A Conversation’

A blue wall of opposition to Pete Hegseth began to crack on Thursday after the embattled Trump nominee for defense secretary conducted his first round of meetings with Democratic U.S. senators skeptical of his candidacy. The first to publicly express openness to confirming him was Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who told reporters outside his office that he’s had generally positive talks with Hegseth.

“It’s a conversation,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said while ambling through a throng of Capitol Hill beat reporters. “We had a conversation, and that’s what happened, and that’s where we’re at.” Perhaps sensing he would get in trouble with party leadership for going further, Fetterman clammed up. “There really is no new news after that conversation,” he replied to several shouted questions. After fielding several more, Fetterman paused, stating his conversation with Hegseth is “part of the process.”

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“I’m going to listen to the process, and I’m going to listen to what my colleagues on the other side continue to say, and how they evaluate, and that’s just part of the process,” he added, suggesting his is warming to Republican arguments for Hegseth’s leadership atop the U.S. Department of Defense.

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Although he is the first Democratic senator to meet with Hegseth, Fetterman is not the first party member to offer tepid praise. Democratic National Committee official Lindy Li appeared on NewsNation last week, where she described Hegseth favorably. “I think you were maybe looking for someone to oppose his nomination, but I’ve had personal interactions with—because I’ve been on Fox & Friends—I’ve met Pete, he’s my fellow Princetonian. I actually think he’s a pretty good guy,” Li said during her appearance on “Morning in America.”

The next Senate will contain 53 Republicans, leaving the party with enough room to lose three votes and still confirm Hegseth. Should Hegseth nab a stamp of approval from Fetterman — currently the most contrarian member of his caucus — it would be an early bipartisan victory for President-elect Donald Trump, who himself has begun speaking with congressional Democrats and expressed his eagerness to find common ground. Early polls showed Americans giving Hegseth and the president-elect’s other nominees generally favorable views, though those numbers have softened in the wake of repeated negative stories, especially about Hegseth. A recent Associated Press poll showed that just two in 10 Americans approve of Hegseth’s nomination, while 36% disapprove. More than four in 10 voters do not know enough about him to form an opinion.

President-elect Trump has reiterated his support for Hegseth and privately told allies he regrets backing down in his fight to see Matt Gaetz confirmed as U.S. attorney general. Any further concessions, he believes, would embolden opponents seeking to bog down his first days in office with protracted battles over administrative personnel. Hegseth, meanwhile, has continued a furious public relations tour as he stays in the fight, appearing on Megyn Kelly’s satellite radio program while his mother took to “Fox & Friends” to defend her son and reprimand the media for its coverage of him.

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