When my daughters were younger, they used to love a kids’ show about a mouse called “Maisy,” and Tuesday’s ridiculousness in the Senate reminded me of the theme song: “Maisy, Maisy, What are you going to do today?”
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Well if you were wondering what Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono (D) would do during the Pete Hegseth Secretary of Defense confirmation hearings, now you have your answer: make a fool of herself.
As we’ve reported, there was plenty of theater and grandstanding through the proceedings, but Hirono is often in a class by herself because when she gets the microphone, you find yourself wondering how on earth someone with such a seemingly tenuous grasp of facts and comportment gets elected as a United States senator.
Here she is just making up statements and attributing them to Hegseth:
She started with a loaded question:
Hirono: Would you use our military to take over Greenland or an ally of… [laughs for no apparent reason] …of Denmark.
Hegseth had a solid answer:
Hegseth: Senator, one of the things that President Trump is so good at is never strategically tipping his hand. And so I would never in this public forum give one way or another direct –
Hirono. It sounds to me that you would contemplate carrying out such an order to basically invade Greenland and take over the Panama Canal.
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Uh, Mazie, he said nothing of the sort.
More buffoonery: Tammy Duckworth Went Full Lunatic During the Pete Hegseth Hearing and Completely Beclowned Herself
The senator had more, of course, and tried to call out the nominee on his alleged drinking problem. The only problem is, if there was anyone who sounded… off, it was Hirono herself:
Watch:
The internet weighed in:
“Clown show,” wrote Eric Daugherty, Assistant News Director of Florida’s Voice.
“Mazie Hirono peddles the discredited anonymous sources from NBC who claimed that Pete Hegseth was constantly drunk at work,” wrote Greg Price.
Other pundits noted that some of her allegations and questions were simply ludicrous and beneath the dignity of the legislative body:
“Hirono was playing judge, jury, and executioner based on lies and stupidity,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote in a post on X.
Brigette Gabriel, ACT for America founder and chair, wrote that “Mazie Hirono might be the least intelligent Member of Congress, and that’s saying something.”
“This line of questioning is unbecoming of her position as a United States Senator,” Gabriel said on X. “I stand with Pete Hegseth.”
During the hearing, Hirono claimed that President-elect Donald Trump ordered guards to “shoot protesters in the legs” during a protest at Layfayette Square in Washington, D.C., in 2020 and asked if Hegseth would carry out such an order.
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Frankly, a lot of today’s hearing was a clown show when Democrats had their turns at the mic. They constantly interrupted Hegseth, seeming to have no actual interest in his answers—they just wanted to get their viral moment and be done with it. Their whole act was unseemly and embarrassing.
I leave you with this: “Maisy. Maisy Maisy Maisy.” Press play at your own peril—you will not be able to get this ditty out of your head for at least a week.