{"id":44302,"date":"2025-10-01T22:36:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T05:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=44302"},"modified":"2025-10-01T22:36:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T05:36:29","slug":"most-loser-shit-i-have-ever-seen-pete-hegseths-unhinged-speech-to-generals-sparks-instant-ridicule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/most-loser-shit-i-have-ever-seen-pete-hegseths-unhinged-speech-to-generals-sparks-instant-ridicule\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Most Loser Shit I Have Ever Seen\u2019: Pete Hegseth\u2019s Unhinged Speech to Generals Sparks Instant Ridicule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"President<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One critic expressed astonishment that Hegseth \u201csummoned all the US generals from around the globe at great expense to fat shame them.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRAD REED<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sep 30, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday sparked instant ridicule among critics for delivering a speech<\/a> in front of American generals in which he railed against \u201cdudes in dresses,\u201d \u201cclimate change worship,\u201d and \u201cfat\u201d soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the address, which US military leaders around the world were summoned to attend in Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth rattled off a long list of culture war grievances that he claimed had weakened the American military, which he asserted is forced to follow \u201cstupid rules of engagement\u201d that limit members of the armed forces. Hegseth has spent much of his tenure taking steps to remake the military into what he has said will be a more aggressive force, including by firing top lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Defense<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018People\u2026 Have No Idea What It Means\u2019: Hegseth Raises Alarm With \u2018Weird\u2019 Military Meeting in Virginia<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"US<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Deeply Un-American\u2019: Trump Tells Generals to Use US Cities as Military \u2018Training Grounds\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among many topics, Hegseth, a former Fox News<\/em> host<\/a>, took aim at some American soldiers\u2019 physical appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrankly, it\u2019s tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops,\u201d Hegseth fumed at one point. \u201cLikewise, it\u2019s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth also said that the Trump administration had moved to systematically \u201cto remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this means in practice, Hegseth elaborated, was \u201cno more identity months, [diversity, equity, and inclusion] offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are done with that shit!\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere in his address, Hegseth announced he was \u201coverhauling\u201d the inspector general process that has been used to investigate allegations of misconduct against military officers. According to Hegseth, the current process has put \u201ccomplainers, ideologues, and poor performers in the driver\u2019s seat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complaints, no more smearing reputations, no more endless waiting, no more legal limbo, no more sidetracking careers, no more walking on eggshells!\u201d Hegseth exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US President Donald Trump<\/a>, who spoke at Quantico after Hegseth\u2019s address, called the defense secretary\u2019s speech \u201cgreat,\u201d even as it was being pilloried as \u201cembarrassing\u201d and \u201cridiculous\u201d far and wide online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the complete speeches by both Hegseth and Trump.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=ZmPy_PHhyi8%3Frel%3D0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/em> columnist Jamelle Bouie described<\/a> the speech as \u201csome of the most loser shit I have ever seen in my life\u201d and he marveled that Hegseth had hauled in military leaders away from their jobs to watch it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan you imagine sitting in that audience as a three-star flag officer\u2014decades in the service, multiple post-grad degrees, and a virtually unequaled level of command expertise\u2014and being forced to watch this dunderheaded dry drunk give an off-brand Jordan Belfort seminar?\u201d Bouie asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pamela Herd, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, also asserted that senior military personnel likely felt insulted watching Hegseth\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t get over the lack of shame\u2014the unabashed confidence,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cCan you imagine what those generals are thinking being lectured to by someone so inexperienced and incompetent?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver, expressed<\/a> astonishment that Hegseth \u201csummoned all the US generals from around the globe at great expense to fat shame them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick argued<\/a> that Hegseth would open up US defense policy to significant vulnerabilities if he were to move forward with banning the American military from discussing the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClimate change may be the single greatest geopolitical wild card of the next century\u2014a reshaping of countries\u2019 agricultures, economies, and even literal geography,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAnd here a guy who never rose above the rank of Major says the U.S. military shouldn\u2019t even consider it. We are screwed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorney Max Kennerly took aim at Hegseth\u2019s comments on military service members\u2019 physical fitness, which he said<\/a> showed a deep ignorance of how the modern military fights wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t get over how the right-wing doesn\u2019t understand modern militaries, with the majority serving non-combat roles,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou think the best IT security and logistics personnel spends two hours in the gym every day to look like the cast of 300<\/em>? They\u2019re at furry conventions and model train shows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Hegseth\u2019s speech, the president\u2019s lengthy address included defenses of his policies, including his decision to deploy federal troops to US cities to fight what he called \u201cthe enemy within.\u201d Trump has ordered federal troops to cities including Washington, DC; Chicago; and Portland to remove unhoused people from the streets, arrest immigrants, and fight anti-fascist protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,\u201d said Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRAD REED<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia. \u00a0(Photo by Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images) One critic expressed astonishment that Hegseth \u201csummoned all the US generals from around the globe at great expense to fat shame them.\u201d… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44304,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44302\/revisions\/44304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}