A Fox News segment went off the rails after a Pod Save America host defended DEI and ‘wokeness’ before accusing Pete Hegseth of drinking on the job. 

Hegseth has been under fire for his role in the Signal group chat leak scandal, though he has denied any wrongdoing. 

Tommy Vietor, the co-host of liberal podcast Pod Save America and a former Obama White House spokesperson, appeared on Fox to debate conservative radio host Clay Travis.

He was asked to defend former vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s comments that the Democrat Party didn’t stand up for DEI and ‘wokeness’ enough during the 2024 campaign, as well as his suggestion that liberals should form a ‘shadow government.’

After suggesting that the notion of a shadow government is similar to what opposition parties do in Britain, he went on attack.  

‘But regarding DEI, let me tell you who would not have put classified information about the Houthi bombing campaign in the Signal group chat. CQ Brown, who was the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until Pete Hegseth fired him,’ he said.

Donald Trump fired Brown in late February, a part of his plan to rid the military of so-called ‘woke generals.’ 

Vietor then made a stunning accusation about Hegseth, who has been accused of binge drinking and promised to give up alcohol when he became Secretary of Defense.  

He said: ‘America doesn’t have a DEI problem right now. We have a competency problem because we have a Fox News Weekend anchor named Pete Hegseth, who, you tell me, may or may not have been tipsy at the time he was sending around this classified information.’

The podcast host added that Hegseth was ‘breaking all the rules, putting at risk service members, and making terrible decisions while Mike Waltz, the national security advisor, is adding journalists to the group chat.’

Heinrich accused Vietor of deflecting before he reiterated that Brown ‘would not have made the mistakes that Pete Hegseth made.’

She then allowed Travis to tag in, with the sports commentator aghast that Vietor would accuse Hegseth of drinking, calling it ‘untrue’ as Vietor repeated ‘you tell me!’

Travis slammed the Biden administration for the 13 soldiers killed in the pullout from Afghanistan and the disappearance of Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, while he was undergoing surgery.

Heinrich cut Vietor off before being able to respond by saying that ‘it’s clear Democrats don’t have anything new that they want to talk about.’

‘Tim Walz is a disaster! Everyone knows it,’ exclaimed Travis, before the segment ended. 

Vietor is the second Democrat in the past week to accuse Hegseth of being drunk on the job.

Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez suggested Hegseth’s ‘drinking habits’ could be to blame for the group chat leak during a bombshell Capitol Hill hearing on Wednesday.

During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth pledged that he wouldn’t drink at all in his position as the Pentagon’s chief after past allegations he was drunk on the job numerous times on Fox News. 

It came as the California lawmaker was pressing top Trump security officials about the discussion of Yemen airstrikes in a Signal chat that accidentally included a reporter.

‘To your knowledge, do you know whether Pete Hegseth had been drinking before he leaked classified information?’ Gomez first asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. 

‘I don’t have any knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits,’ Gabbard responded.

But when he asked Ratcliffe the same question, the CIA director and former GOP congressman shot back angrily.

‘You know, no I’m going to answer that. I think that’s an offensive line of questioning. The answer’s no,’ Ratcliffe said.

The exchange continued to devolve into chaos with the two yelling over each other.

‘You don’t want to focus on the good work that the CIA is doing, the intelligence community,’ Ratcliffe shouted while Gomez tried to reclaim his time. 

‘I have huge respect for the CIA, huge respect for our men and women in uniform,’ Gomez fired back finally. 

The congressman had noted accusations regarding Hegseth drinking was a topic of concern back when he was confirmed as defense secretary in January. 

Gomez argued his question ‘was on the top of minds of every American’ after it was revealed Hegseth shared war plans on Signal. 

‘He stood in front of a podium in Europe holding a drink, so of course we want to know if his performance is compromised,’ Gomez said.

Gomez brought up people asking if former Defense Secretary General Lloyd Austin was compromised ‘because of a heart issue.’ 

But he was cut off by Ratcliffe who asked ‘was his performance compromised because of a successful strike?’

The CIA director kept going, lashing out at Gomez ‘you want to talk about accepting responsibility. Do you think you should accept responsibility for a successful strike to make Americans safer?’

Gomez cut him off declaring ‘this is serious’ as his time for questioning the witness was running out, but the exchange did not stop there. 

Hegseth’s nomination was made difficult as a steady stream of negative reports came out highlighting his alleged binge drinking and and questionable behavior around women.

One such report published by the New York Times Wednesday revealed emails from his mother, Penelope Hegseth, in which she calls her own son a habitual cheater and abuser of women, according to an email she sent to him following his second divorce in 2018.

She later said the email was sent out of anger and frustration, and she claims to have written a follow up shortly after apologizing. 

Hegseth, 44, has also been accused of sexual assault and getting too intoxicated while on the job to the point of being forced out of a leadership role for a veterans group.

Another recent NBC News report in December claims 10 current and former Fox News staffers said they were concerned about his drinking and could smell alcohol on him ‘as recently as last month.’

Hegseth dove further into his drinking habits on Megyn Kelly’s podcast, who is also a fellow former Fox host.

‘What do guys do when they come back from war oftentimes? Have some beers. How do you deal with the demons you see on the battlefield? Sometimes it’s with a bottle,’ he expressed.

‘Unfortunately, tragically, for too many guys it’s with the bottle and then it’s depression and then, even worse, suicide.’

‘I found my chapters of purpose that pulled me out of that,’ he said.

‘I’m a very different person than I was 10 years ago,’ Hegseth insisted, pointing to his wife Jennifer and his Christian faith.

Trump stood by his pick, and Hegseth was eventually confirmed by the Senate.