(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, found a new way to attack President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees during their confirmation hearings: questioning whether they’ve ever been accused of sexual misconduct.
Hirono’s fixation on sexual behavior and bizarre line of questioning appeared to echo Democrats’ longstanding tactic of accusing their opponents of sexual misconduct. Doug Burgum—Trump’s pick for secretary of the interior—became her latest target.
“As part of my responsibility to ensure the fitness of nominees before any of the committees, I said I’d ask the following two initial questions,” Hirono began.
“Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?”
Not stopping there, Hirono pressed further: “Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of conduct?”
Burgum swiftly denied ever being accused of misconduct, responding, “I have not.”
He was not alone. Hirono also attacked Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, with the same odd questions.
Sen. Mazie Hirono begins her questioning by attempting to make Pete Hegseth out as a sexual predator.
She even laughes as she tries to smear a man cleared of any wrongdoing. pic.twitter.com/PTUlkJXRAh
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) January 14, 2025
Addressing the settlement question, Hegseth clarified that while he had been falsely accused of misconduct in October 2017, the issue was “fully investigated” and he was “completely cleared.”
Hirono, however, shot back, “I don’t think ‘completely cleared’ is fully accurate but the fact is your own lawyer said that you entered into a NDA and paid a person who accused you of raping her a sum of money to make sure that she did not file a complaint.”
Hirono’s focus on baseless sexual allegations is on brand with Democrats’ pattern of targeting Trump and fellow Republicans.
For example, in 2018, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh faced baseless accusations of rape and sexual assault during his confirmation process.
Despite zero evidence, Democrats and leftist media launched a smear campaign to what Republicans described as a desperate effort to derail his nomination.
Hirono repeated her questions while pressing Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Bondi promptly denied any involvement in any sexual misconduct.
JUST IN: "Crazy" Mazie Hirono opens her questioning of AG nominee Pam Bondi's confirmation hearing by asking her if she ever sexually assaulted anyone.
No. Seriously. pic.twitter.com/ylYrHMjq3u
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 15, 2025
Hirono’s worries about sexual misconduct appear hypocritical as in 2020, she seemed unbothered by Tara Reade’s accusations that Joe Biden allegedly sexually assaulted her in the 1990s when she worked in his Senate office.
In remarks to Politico, Hirono accused Republicans of hypocrisy by raising the alarm about the Biden accusations.
“They are the ones who are totally embracing their admitted sexual predator president,” Hirono claimed. “So for them to use that as some sort of a weapon against Democrats, and they themselves won’t even look to their own behavior is more than hypocritical.”
