WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Pete Hegseth, who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be defense secretary, is facing major headwinds in his attempt to win Senate approval for the job, bogged down by an avalanche of bad headlines advised.

Hegseth is fighting to keep his nomination on track, telling reporters on Capitol Hill that Trump has encouraged him to stick with it. “I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said, ‘Go ahead. Keep fighting, always behind yourself,’” Hegseth said.

On Wednesday, his mother, Penelope Hegseth, took the unusual step of making a plea for her son on “Fox & Friends,” speaking directly to the camera and saying she wanted to set the record straight about damnation e-mail She sent her son information about his treatment of women.

It’s just one of several negative reports about Hegseth, including that he secured a nondisclosure agreement and paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault following an incident in 2017. Hegseth has denied the allegations, but his lawyer confirmed that he had reached an agreement with the woman.

The 44-year-old Hegseth’s selection also came under scrutiny due to his relative lack of experience. The post is typically filled by people who have served on Capitol Hill, in industry or in the highest ranks of the officer corps.

What Hegseth’s mother said on Fox News

The New York Times reported on Friday that Penelope Hegseth had called her son a “wife abuser” in an email she sent him in 2018, while he was going through an acrimonious divorce with his second wife,

“I have no respect for a man who belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and exploits women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years),” she said in it e-mailpublished by The times.

In her Fox News interview, Hegseth did not dispute the accuracy of the email, but said it was sent in a fit of anger and that she retracted it within hours and apologized to her son.

“It was a very emotional time,” said Hegseth. “There are emotions. We say things and I wrote this in a hurry. I wrote this with deep emotions. I wrote this as a parent.”

Hegseth said she asked to appear on the show to send a message to Trump — and to the senators in Washington her son met with this week.

“He’s a changed man and I just hope that people get to know who Pete is today, especially our lovely senators, that you listen to him,” she said in the interview. “Listen with your heart to the truth from Pete.”

It was friendly territory. Until she was accepted, Hegseth was the host of “Fox & Friends Weekend”.

Some of Trump’s other recommendations are also under scrutiny

Last month, Trump said he would nominate Matt Gaetz as attorney general. But this choice was met with strong criticism. After insisting that the meetings with senators had gone well, he withdrew his name. Trump replaced him with Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who served on his first impeachment defense team.

On Tuesday evening, Trump announced his nominee to lead the Hillsborough County, Florida Drug Enforcement Agency. Sheriff Chad Chronister announced he had withdrawn from the proceedings, saying he concluded he had to step down “as the gravity of this very important responsibility increased.”

Hegseth was on Capitol Hill this week with his wife, attending meetings with senators to answer their questions privately. Only a handful have publicly expressed concerns about his nomination, but there is little room for dissent since Senate Republicans will only have a slim majority in confirmation votes.

“He obviously has a chance to defend himself here, but some of these things are going to be difficult,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-R.C., said in an interview with CBS News, referring to recent news reports about Hegseth that Graham had called “very disturbing.”