Kathrine Frich
Social media users wasted no time piling on after the footage dropped.
Staying in shape gets harder as the years go by.
Regular folks can just hide their heavy breathing at the back of a crowded gym class.
But when you hold a top government job, every drop of sweat is broadcast to the world.
Sweating it out
The US defense secretary recently joined a group of Marines for a training session in San Diego. Pete Hegseth put on shorts and a T-shirt to run drills with the troops.
Things quickly took a difficult turn. Footage broadcast by C-SPAN and cited by the Irish Star showed the defense chief gasping for air while attempting bear crawls. He looked completely worn out.
He also fell far behind on the running track. A female service member sprinted easily past him while he struggled to keep pace.
Skipping the bar
Another clip caught a different moment of defeat. Hegseth approached a pull-up bar, seemingly preparing to lift himself up.
He leaned on the equipment in exhaustion, but backed away at the last second. Instead of doing the actual exercise, he chose to high-five the troops running past him.
He then muttered something to the nearby Marines, which earned a quick laugh from the group.
Harsh words online
Social media users wasted no time piling on after the footage dropped. Viewers mocked his fitness, pointing out the clear irony of his recent policies.
One person wrote on X: “That’s low T if I’ve ever seen it.” Another user laughed at the spectacle, posting: “Love all the Marines running laps round his larping ass.”
Some observers were even more ruthless about his image. “He is desperate to be viewed as tough,” a commenter posted. “He looks like a clown.”
Demanding peak fitness
The mockery cuts deep because Hegseth has been a loud critic of military fitness. Last September, he told military commanders in Virginia that “fat troops are tiring to look at.”
“It’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he added, according to the Irish Star.
He also launched a program this year to test male troops over 30 for low testosterone. In a July video on X, he claimed this would boost military readiness.
“By addressing these health markers early, we’re keeping you on the leading edge of lethality,” Hegseth said. Now, critics are questioning his own physical lethality.
