Penelope Hegseth made the accusation in an email to her son in 2018, amid his contentious divorce. She said on Friday that she regretted the email and had apologized to him.

The mother of Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, reportedly told her son he was an 'abuser of women' in an email.

The New York Times obtained a copy of an email sent by the mother of Trump's chosen defense chief, who has a history of sexual misconduct allegations.

A new report publishing an email sent by the mother of Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, has sparked backlash. President-elect Trump appointed Hegseth, a Fox News commentator and former National Guard officer,

The Times noted that Penelope Hegseth described their publishing of the email as "disgusting" and she apologized to her son in a follow-up email.

In a 2018 email to the former Fox News anchor, his mother Penelope Hegseth said she had ‘no respect’ for her son

Pete Hegseth’s mother trashed his character in a blistering email amid his contentious divorce and from his second wife, Samantha, mother of three of his children. Penelope Hegseth, 70, wrote that President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary had been mistreating women for years.

Penelope Hegseth wrote that Donald Trump's selection for secretary of defense "belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego"