The hosts of Fox & Friends were apparently just as surprised as everybody else to learn that Donald Trump had chosen their colleague Pete Hegseth as his next defense secretary. The president-elect announced his eyebrow-raising nomination on Truth Social Tuesday,

Pete Hegseth’s co-hosts on Fox & Friends rallied around their colleague amid allegations that he is a white supremacist. Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Duffy, and Joey Jones all slammed backlash surrounding Hegseth following his nomination for Secretary of Defense by President-elect Donald Trump as “defamation” on Saturday.

Hegseth began his career in public service by joining the U.S. Army National Guard. As an infantry officer, he served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, earning the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge for his leadership in combat.