Fox & friends Co-host Brian Kilmeade said Wednesday that some U.S. senators may sympathize with Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled, three-times-married nominee for defense secretary, because they hate their ex-wives.

“A lot of these senators are going to look at him and say, ‘Yeah, I got divorced too,'” he surmised on the Fox News morning talk show. “‘My ex-wife hates me’ or ‘I hate her’ or the children – their families are complicated.”

Vanity Fair reported Tuesday that Hegseth’s first marriage ended in 2009 after he admitted to having five affairs and told his ex-wife, “I’m a single person.”

According to Brian Stelter, his second marriage failed Hoaxafter cheating on his second wife in 2016 with a producer at Fox News, where he was an anchor and commentator from 2014 to 2024.

He is now married to the producer whom he impregnated before finalizing his second divorce.

Hegseth’s character has come under fire when sexual assault allegations resurfaced in 2017 and he claims he mismanaged two veterans organizations, all of which he denies.

Ten former Fox News colleagues told NBC News that Hegseth’s drinking raised alarms at the network – two said they smelled alcohol on him several times before he went on air as host Fox & friends.

Trump’s transition team called the allegations “disgusting” and “completely baseless and false.”

Kilmeade, meanwhile, denied the allegations against Hegseth, citing the work ethic and physical condition of his former colleagues.

“You can’t suppress this job, you can’t fill in for Laura Ingraham or Sean Hannity, work eight hours every Sunday, fill in for all of us… there’s not a show he can’t do,” Kilmeade said. “The way his critics describe him, it would be impossible to believe he would still be (alive).”

“Pete is made of stone,” he added, increasing his effusive admiration for Hegseth.

“He is a stone. The guy eats healthier, behaves healthier, works harder, literally worked on his ranch. He has a lifestyle that reflects his discipline.”

It’s unclear whether Hegseth will make it to the Senate confirmation hearings, where his alleged personal behavior and the sympathies of supposedly ex-wife-hating lawmakers would be tested.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump is considering dropping Hegseth as his Pentagon nominee for Florida Gov. Ron Desantis.