Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) sunk to a new low by bringing Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's young daughter into the discussion during his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Fox News reported. The former vice presidential candidate faced backlash on social media for the stunt.
Kaine was hammering Hegseth about alleged extramarital affairs. Kaine goaded Hegseth, saying he had just "fathered a child" at the time of his dalliances, including a sexual harassment claim that Hegseth pointed out he was "completely cleared" of in the courts.
"Senator, her child’s name is Gwendolyn Hope Hegseth, and she’s a child of God. She’s 7 years old, and I am glad she’s here," Hegseth told Kaine after several mentions of his daughter without using her name.
While trying to dredge up his marital history, Kaine struck a nerve with Hegseth by including his daughter's birth in the timeline. Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in October 2017 but was later cleared due to evidence that it was consensual.
"I was fully investigated and completely cleared," Hegseth said. Kaine latched onto that to make his attack on Hegseth's family. "So you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime?" Kaine said.
"That's your definition of cleared. You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would stand here and say you're completely cleared," Kaine leaned into the line of questioning.
"Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child who had been born two months before? And you tell us you are completely cleared? How is that completely cleared?" he pushed.
"As I've acknowledged to everyone in this committee, I’m not a perfect person," Hegseth responded. "I'm not claiming to be," he said before Kaine again cut him off.
Kaine faced intense backlash for this exchange. "Senator Tim Kaine really did try to use Pete Hegseth’s 7-year-old daughter against him, despicable," Drew Hernandez, conservative commentator, said on X, formerly Twitter.
Will Chamberlain, co-owner of Human Events, pointed out the hypocrisy in Kaine's use of Hegseth's affairs. "Tim Kaine has a lot to say about Pete Hegseth’s conduct during his marriage. Here’s Tim Kaine campaigning with Doug Emhoff, who - while married - impregnated his nanny and forced her to get an abortion," Chamberlain captioned a photo of Kaine with the first gentleman.
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly slammed Kaine for hypocrisy after being Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016. "This guy with his holier than thou on the cheating allegations of what he did … [He] was Hillary Clinton’s running mate," she said on her Megyn Kelly Show podcast, The Wrap reported.
"So this, this man was fine with Bill Clinton," Kelly said of the former president and infamous philanderer. "This man who wants us to believe any extramarital activity is abhorrent to him. He’s disgusted by it; that’s the same Tim Kaine," Kelly added.
The people in Congress who so often look the other way as colleagues engage in the worst behavior now believe they have the moral high ground. Unfortunately, the standards of character have long since fallen by the wayside in both parties, making this line of questioning using Hegseth's daughter just despicable.
