Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been accused of “body shaming” a youth cadet instructor after posting her picture on social media.
Hegseth shared the image of an instructor from Vernon Cadet Training Center in British Columbia presenting a cadet with a medal, captioning it with an emoji of a Canadian flag and the words: “(this is real).”
The post met with an immediate backlash, with one Canadian veteran writing in response: “Wow. The Secretary of Defense is body shaming cadet groups. A youth group.
“This is not a military unit. They are kids looking for adventure, test themselves and align themselves with the values of service. Don’t be a Pete.”
Amy Coplan, a philosophy professor at California State University, Fullerton, asked the former Fox News host: “What is your point? You’re the Secretary of Defense, and our country is currently engaged in a war.
“Why are you posting what appears to be some sort of insulting tweet about teenagers in Canada? Is bullying Canadian teenagers more important than attending to our ever-deteriorating situation in Iran?
“Is bullying Canadian teenagers ever an appropriate activity for the Secretary of Defense? Or any rational adult?”
Ex-Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger agreed: “Literally they’re kids. This is a cadet program and our a** hat of a Secdef is making fun of children. MAGA males are betas who have to punch down to feel big.”
Others responded with an American flag emoji and a “(this is real)” caption to shots of a sweaty Hegseth clutching a bottle of champagne or running in an exercise drill.
The secretary previously stated his opposition to women serving in combat roles in the military and revealed an apparent fixation with troops’ personal appearances, railing against “fat” soldiers and dressing down top brass in Virginia a year ago for allowing servicemembers to cultivate long hair and beards.
Hegseth’s post comes as the Department of Defense reels from the sudden resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, the latest senior official to leave his role after months of reported tension with the secretary.
It also comes against the backdrop of Trump’s latest trade feud with Canada, which saw the president impose 50 percent tariffs on a range of Canadian exports last week, leading PM Mark Carney to respond in kind.
Trump has since moved to rename Lake Ontario by executive order, calling tech companies like Apple to change its name to “Lake America” on their mapping services.
The move has been met with ridicule north of the border, notably from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who erected a huge billboard on the Great Lake’s shoreline declaring it: “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.”
“I don’t see the purpose,” Ford said of Trump’s aggression on ABC News’s This Week Sunday.
“It was something out of Saturday Night Live when he signed documents saying ‘change it to Lake America.’ No one is going to call it Lake America.”
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