Comedy Central’s Michael Kosta used The Daily Show’s penultimate episode of 2024 to mock Secretary of Defense-designate Pete Hegseth’s pledge not to drink if confirmed and ridiculed any Senate Republican who believes him. Kosta introduced a pair of video clips by declaring, “But even if he's confirmed, Pete seems to understand that being blackout drunk 23 hours a day might be a problem, which is why he's offering to change.” In the first clip, CNN’s Manu Raju reported that “He's been telling members of the Senate Republican Conference that if he were confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he would not drink alcohol at all. He would abstain from drinking.”     That was followed by Hegseth himself telling Megyn Kelly, “This is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I am doing it.” Kosta found the whole thing deeply amusing, sarcastically claiming, “That's good enough for me,” before adding, “When has an alcoholic ever promised to do better and not followed through? What a deal. ‘Just put me in charge of the largest military in history, and I'll stop drinking.’” While Hegseth has hailed the fact that he is a “different man” today than he was in previous years, he has also claimed that he never had the serious addiction problem Kosta is alleging. His pledge is both a recognition that people need to trust him when he says he has put his past behind him and a recognition of the need to be both literally and mentally sober for the critical job of Defense Secretary. Kosta would go on to say that even if he didn't have an infamous past, Hegseth would still be unqualified and inexperienced, but he didn't have to mock Hegseth's recovery to make that argument. Here is a transcript for the December 11 show: Comedy Central The Daily Show 12/11/2024 11:08 PM ET MICHAEL KOSTA: But even if he's confirmed, Pete seems to understand that being blackout drunk 23 hours a day might be a problem, which is why he's offering to change. MANU RAJU: He's been telling members of the Senate Republican Conference that if he were confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he would not drink alcohol at all. He would abstain from drinking. PETE HEGSETH: This is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I am doing it. KOSTA: That's good enough for me. When has an alcoholic ever promised to do better and not followed through? What a deal. "Just put me in charge of the largest military in history, and I'll stop drinking.”