Fox News' Pete Hegseth, who stumped for Trump during his midterm rallies, is a total hack. This morning was unbelieveable. Pete said that Mississippi GOP Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith's reference to public hangings in Mississippi was only "graceless." Then he went further, defending public hangings as lawful executions at certain times in the 19th and 20th century.

Lynching. They're talking about lynching.

Jessica Tarlov, the only Democrat on the Outnumbered panel, ripped him to shreds.

As Outnumbered was discussing today's runoff election in MS., Trump's favorite fanboy Pete Hegseth demonstrated a new low for defending racism.

Co-host Harris Faulkner asked Hegseth how he would call it. Hegseth said Hyde-Smith was going to win and then claimed the media was attempting to smear her as a racist.

Hegseth said, "Listen, you can say graceless things, foolish things, it doesn't make them racist things in every way that you have said them. I really think people that know her -- "

Tarlov replied, "You think talking about having a lynching is not -- that doesn't have a racial connotation? Who was getting lynched?"

He continued, "She's a nice lady with a gift for saying graceless things. First of all -- "

Tarlov was stunned and her face showed it.

Tarlov, "A "nice lady"? Who cares?"

Hegseth, "I don't want to get into the semantics of it, but there were -- "

Tarlov, "You have to, though. She said "lynching."

Hegseth, "Public -- she did not say lynching, she said "public hangings," which were -- which refer to lawful executions at certain times in the 19th and 20th century."

Tarlov, "Pete."

Hegseth, "No, really. I'm not saying -- you're playing on the field you want to play in, which is saying, "this lady's a racist." And what she's saying is, her public career shows that she isn't."

She massaged her temples. I was getting a headache too, Jessica.

Tarlov: "Public hanging, public lynching has connotations especially in the South - African-Americans were lynched. She also wore a hat with a confederate flag on it..."

Jessica reminded the panel that Doug Jones only won by a little under two points versus an alleged pedophile in Judge Roy Moore.

"But for you to say this is just graceless, to make a joke that was so utterly inappropriate and should have been condemned but everybody I think it's irresponsible."

"You're impugning her motives in saying it was racist -- "

"Do you think it's funny, is that your sense of humor?"

Faulkner chimed in and said he didn't say it was funny.

She responded by saying "I think it's a little more than graceless."

Hyde-Smith's remarks were racist no matter how Pete tried to apologize, rewrite, deflect and defend it.

And Jessica Tarlov's outrage was not only warranted, it made Pete look like a buffoon.