'Hold On!': CNN Host Smacks Down Rep. Byron Donalds' Hegseth Pivot

Sara Sidner put the GOP representative on blast for "equating" controversy surrounding Hegseth to a scandal involving his predecessor.

CNN host Sara Sidner on Wednesday hit back at Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) after he tried pivoting to a Biden administration scandal in response to questions on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial leadership.

Sidner referred to a CNN report on the chaos at the Pentagon as Hegseth deals with leaks, mass firings and further infighting — all while responding to the fallout of a second Signal chat scandal.

“Does this not bother you at all?” Sidner bluntly asked Donalds, who is President Donald Trump’s pick to succeed term-limited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Donalds responded by claiming that Hegseth is just weeks into his job and that the Pentagon is going through a transitory phase between administrations.

He then pivoted to talk of former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s January 2024 hospitalization following surgery to treat prostate cancer. Austin and his staff kept his hospitalization secret at the time, a decision that the Pentagon later determined to have no “ill intent” but was widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike.