Pete Hegseth’s mother denigrated his character in a harsh email shortly after his contentious divorce from his second wife Samantha, the mother of three of his children.

Penelope Hegseth, 70, wrote that President-elect Donald Trump had mistreated women for years as defense secretary.

“On behalf of all women (and I know there are many) who have abused you in some way, I say get help and take an honest look at yourself,” she wrote on April 30, 2018.

“I have no respect for a man who belittles women, lies, cheats, sleeps around and exploits them for his own power and ego.

“You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother it pains me and embarrasses me to say it, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

The stunning email was received by The New York Times and published in a report on Friday evening.

Hegseth’s mother also condemned his treatment of Samantha during their bitter divorce, writing: “It is despicable and insulting if you try to label her as ‘unstable’ for your own benefit.” Do you still have a sense of decency?

“She didn’t ask for or deserve anything that happened to her at your hands.

“Meredith doesn’t either,” Penelope Hegseth added, referring to her son’s first wife.

In conversation with the Just On Friday, Penelope Hegseth said she had retracted the claims contained in the email and now regrets sending it.

“That is not true. That was never true,” she said. “I know my son. He’s a good father, husband.” She said publishing the contents of the first email was “disgusting.”

Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, told the Daily Beast: “The New York Times is despicable because it uses an out-of-context excerpt of an illegally obtained private email exchange between a mother and her son that does not accurately represent the entire conversation. In subsequent emails, Ms. Hegseth expressed regret for her emotional message and apologized.”

Pete Hegseth, 44, was accused of rape by a woman he met at a Republican convention in Monterey, California, in 2017.

He admitted to later paying off the woman to protect his job as an anchor at Fox News, but strenuously denied her claim and said the encounter was consensual. He was never charged.

His second wife filed for divorce after it was revealed that he was having an affair with Fox News executive Jennifer Rachet. The two have a daughter together and married at a Trump golf course in 2019.