Abby Huntsman Defends Ex-Colleague Pete Hegseth Amidst Controversy
Entertainment reporter Abby Huntsman found herself in a challenging position during her recent guest co-hosting stint on The View. The former Fox News host attempted to navigate a discussion that heavily criticized her ex-colleague, Pete Hegseth, while simultaneously trying to highlight his positive attributes.
Hegseth and Huntsman previously co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend from 2017 to 2018. When the conversation turned to former President Trump’s suggestion that Hegseth was instrumental in potentially leading the country towards conflict, Huntsman stepped in to offer a different perspective.
“I worked on a show with Pete and praised him for his service, and he’s a smart guy and was a perfect Fox News host,” Huntsman, 39, stated, as the panel dissected a clip of Trump’s remarks at a Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable in Tennessee. Trump had said, “Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
Whoopi Goldberg commented, “So the plan seems to be, blaming Hegseth.” Huntsman quickly responded, “This is so classic Trump. He doesn’t like to take accountability for anything… He’s thinking, if the oil prices don’t go down, it looks bad in the midterms… Pete looks at this as praise. He’s toast. If this doesn’t go well, this is not good for Pete Hegseth.”
Sunny Hostin pressed Huntsman, acknowledging their shared history: “You know Pete.” When Huntsman described Hegseth as the “perfect” Fox News host, Hostin challenged, “Is he a ‘perfect’ Secretary of Defense?”
Huntsman visibly hesitated, attempting to steer the conversation away from a direct assessment of Hegseth’s qualifications. “For one, I would say the cartoons and movie memes have got to stop. When you come from a military family, this is not a game,” she argued. Hostin persisted, “Do you think he’s qualified to be the Secretary of Defense?” and watched with a smirk as Huntsman again avoided a direct answer. “I don’t hope for the demise of the country, so I pray for the best,” Huntsman replied, expressing her concern over the situation.
The questioning continued, with Hostin repeatedly asking for Huntsman’s opinion. Joy Behar even offered to intervene, joking, “Do you want me to save you from Sunny?” to laughter from the audience.
Huntsman attempted a final deflection, stating, “This is what I’ll say about cabinets—presidents usually pick people in these roles that are experts at what they do.” Sara Haines chimed in, “A real expert is probably Trump’s enemy,” prompting Hostin to redirect the question to her. Haines ultimately stated, “I’ll go ahead and say Pete Hegseth is not qualified to run the Department of Defense.”
Huntsman, seemingly wanting to avoid further conflict, later clarified, “But I’ll say this, seriously, I don’t want what’s going on to fail because I have people that I love that are serving this country, and there are a lot of families that do, so this is not—I hope they, I pray they get this right.”
Finally, after much prodding, Huntsman conceded, “I’m not here defending… By the way, I don’t think Pete’s qualified for the job. That’s not what I’m saying at all… what I’m saying is I love this country, and I don’t want it to fail.”
Huntsman previously served as a permanent host on The View from 2018 to 2020 and is currently filling in for Alyssa Farah Griffin during her maternity leave. She had previously described the show as “toxic” and focused on “money and the tabloids” in 2021 before returning this week.
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