Daniel Wolfram
Hegseth acted erratically during a speech honoring a deceased Senator
It is hard to instill confidence in soldiers when their leader is acting unusually.
It is even harder for the public to remain confident in the Secretary of Defense when the war in Iran is going sideways and there is mounting pressure from all sides. This was on full display in South Carolina.
Pete Hegseth just went viral again after a recent military event, but for all the wrong reasons.
Caught on camera
At a military event at Joint Base Charleston, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, addressed assembled troops during a renaming of the military base to honor the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who hailed from the same state.
The speech was officially to honor Graham, but the underlying message was about advocating for higher defense spending.
However, the ceremony quickly went south, as the event was overshadowed by a seemingly out-of-it Secretary. A video clip shared on social media showed Hegseth wiping his nose with his hand before running those same fingers straight through his hair.
Journalist Aaron Rupar highlighted the clip for his followers. “Pete Hegseth wipes his nose, then runs his hand through his hair,” Rupar wrote, launching an immediate wave of reactions across social media platforms.
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Sweating uncontrollably as a Norwegian
The bizarre moments did not stop with the nose wipe.
During the remarks to the soldiers, Hegseth could not stop sweating. While making the speech, the sweat kept dripping off his head as he couldn’t stop the outpouring.
Hegseth was quick to defend the sweating by blaming the humid August heat in South Carolina, something he was not used to, seeing as he is a Norwegian from Minnesota.
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People on the internet were quick to make light of the situation and presumed that Hegseth was on something other than just water.
Rumors of alcohol and substance abuse
This is not the first time that Hegseth has been accused of alcohol and substance abuse.
When the former Fox News host was first tapped by President Trump to run the Pentagon, allegations of alcohol abuse became a big story. This was claimed by people close to him.
One of them was his former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth. She claimed in an official statement to U.S. lawmakers during Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing that he would regularly get so drunk that one time an Uber driver had to pull over on the freeway so he could throw up.
