Fox News accidentally fired Pete Hegseth from the Defense Department a bit prematurely on Tuesday morning. Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade introduced Hegseth before their interview as the “former secretary” of defense on Tuesday before quickly correcting himself, saying Hegseth was the “current secretary of state”—a role occupied by Marco Rubio, not Hegseth. Kilmeade explained his initial flub stemmed from Hegseth’s former job as co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend. He then asked Hegseth to comment on accusations from former Pentagon staffers that the department is in shambles under his leadership. Hegseth vowed during the interview to pursue and potentially prosecute leakers, claiming reports over his repeated use of the Signal messaging app to share attack plans came from staffers who were fired for leaking to the press.
