Hegseth hits back at misconduct allegations in contentious hearing

Sen. Tommy Tuberville spent most of his questioning praising Hegseth.

The Alabama Republican and former Auburn University football coach made an analogy to football to the confirmation process.

"I came from a team sport where you were the people, the players actually won the games. And that's what's going to happen here. You're not going to win the game now. You're going to set the precedent," he said.

Tuberville continued the Republican questioning about the "woke" military and Hegseth again committed to focusing on leadership that focused on military values.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott asked Hegseth why he wanted the job and what drives him.

Hegseth took a few seconds to collect his thoughts and responded that he loved his country and was "dedicated my life to the warfighters."

"People that really know me know where my heart's at. It's with the guys in this audience who've had my back, and I've had theirs," he said.

Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine pressed Hegseth several times on whether he would abide by the Geneva Conventions, a 1949 set of agreements regulating the use of force during wartime that forbids torture.

Hegseth argued the applications of the Geneva Conventions are "incredibly important" but that the rules of engagement have changed for troops since then.

"The Geneva Conventions are what we base our -- but what an "American First" national security policy is not going to do is hand its prerogatives over to international bodies that make decisions about how our men and women make decisions on the battlefield," Hegseth said.

Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer began his questioning by praising Hegseth's vocal devotion to Christianity.

He stayed on topic and asked Hegseth to explain why he says he was not allowed to serve with the National Guard during the 2020 Biden inauguration. Hegseth claims that it was because of his tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross on his chest, which has been linked to white nationalists.

Hegseth claimed it was a "historic Christian symbol," and denied he was an "extremist."

However, the National Guardsman who in 2021 pegged him as a potential "insider threat" clarified in an interview with ABC News in November that his complaint targeted a "Deus Vult" tattoo on his forearm. The term is used by far-right militants.

Sgt. DeRicko Gaither told ABC News "this wasn't then and isn't now a personal attack towards Pete Hegseth."

"The protocol was followed and would be followed again if this issue involved any other service member, myself included," he said.

Hegseth did not mention his arm tattoo during his questioning.