Q&A with Sen. Markwayne Mullin: Pete Hegseth’s heated confirmation hearing

In a contentious Senate confirmation hearing, Senator Markwayne Mullin stood firmly in defense of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense.

The hearing, which included pointed personal attacks, has drawn national attention.

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin spoke with News 9 at 9 about his thoughts on the hearing.

Q: Tell us about just the fallout and the maybe support you've had from what happened at that confirmation hearing yesterday?

A: It's been a lot of a lot of positive. The hypocrisy that the other side wants to bring to the table, showing that they have a moral high ground, just isn’t true. I’m not saying I’m morally better than anybody else. I’m probably the most flawed person here. But to say [Hegseth] isn’t qualified because of his past is shameful.

Q: You had a list of questions prepared that you were going to ask. What was the moment that made you throw out those questions and say what you said?

A: The look on his wife, Jennifer, who was sitting literally right behind Pete. I’ve had the privilege of knowing Pete for quite some time. His wife, I’ve gotten to know over the last six weeks. To see her sit there and have to take the oncoming fire of these Democrats morally attacking her husband was very frustrating for me. If my wife was sitting there and someone was attacking me, I know she’d want somebody to come up and defend me too. That was the turning point for me.

Q: What's the reaction that things have gotten to this point with confirmation hearings in our country?

A: It shouldn't get here. It should never made it to this point. We didn't do this with President Biden's cabinet picks. We went to advise and consent Article 2, Section 2 in the Constitution. Most of his nominees actually had bipartisan support but he American people chose to choose a different direction for the for the path of this country was going down. 

Q: Do you believe Pete Hegseth will ultimately be confirmed and is this indicative of what's to come with the rest of these confirmation hearings?

A: Yes, Pete will be confirmed. I believe he’ll be confirmed overwhelmingly by Republican support. I’d be surprised if he gets any Democrat support. He might be able to get Senator John Fetterman.  I believe they're going to come out really hard against Tulsi Gabbard. I know they're going to try doing the same thing with Bobby Kennedy. Kash Patel, they're going to try to. But Pete is really... the hardest one that we had to get over the finish line. And after his performance yesterday, he's going to be confirmed and all the other nominees will be confirmed as well.

Q: On another note, you were recently selected to join Senator Thune at the leadership table. What does that mean for Oklahoma?

A: Our whole point of being up here is to be effective for Oklahoma. I have other things I could be doing in my life, but if we’re going to be here, we want to be effective. That’s what this new role will allow us to do—serve Oklahoma better.