Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said over the weekend that he has heard of stories of U.S. service members who have decided to re-enlist because of who President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to be the next Secretary of Defense.

Hagerty made the remarks during a Sunday interview on ABC News’ “This Week” with Jonathan Karl while discussing misconduct allegations that U.S. Army veteran and former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth has faced from years ago that only recently surfaced.

“Pete is a very talented individual,” Hagerty said. “I talked with him earlier this week. He told me about how many people had written to him and said, look, I was thinking about getting out. You know we have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem in the military. I was thinking about getting out, but now that you’ve come to lead us, Pete, I’m going to stay in.”

“That’s the type of inspirational leader we need to see,” he continued. “Don’t let these allegations distract us. What we need is real, significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it.”

WATCH:

Senator @BillHagertyTN says he spoke to incoming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Pete told him patriots in our military are re-enlisting after news broke of his nomination. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/A5u15LYEpe

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 24, 2024