Pete Hegseth’s desperate attempt to portray himself as a macho warrior doesn’t resonate with the public.
An embarrassing poll conducted by The Bulwark and the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast found that just 28 percent of Americans consider the image-obsessed alpha-male defense secretary a “strong” male role model, compared with 39 percent who do not.
Hegseth’s numbers are even worse among 18-to-29-year-olds, with just 18 percent believing the constantly embattled head of the Pentagon is a good role model, compared with 34 percent who say he is not.
Hegseth can take some solace in the fact that his net score of -11 is not the worst among the figures included in The Bulwark’s poll. That dubious honor instead goes to President Donald Trump, with a majority (55 percent) of Americans saying the 80-year-old president is not a strong role model, compared with 37 percent who think he is.
Actor Matthew McConaughey (+33), former president Barack Obama (+28) and basketball star LeBron James (+25) are considered the strongest male role models in the poll.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (-2) and podcaster Joe Rogan (-4) are the only other figures among the nine whose overall scores are underwater. Travis Kelce (+16), the NFL star and husband of singer Taylor Swift, ranks fourth.
Hegseth’s time as defense secretary has been marked by his railing against what he claims is the “woke” decay of the U.S. military. His efforts have included demanding that military personnel be clean-shaven, in keeping with Hegseth’s “warrior” ethos; banning transgender people from serving in the armed forces; and removing the name of assassinated gay-rights icon Harvey Milk from a Navy ship.
The former Fox & Friends host also regularly shares videos of himself working out with troops in an apparent effort to prove how tough he is.
“With the amount of effort the secretary puts into demonstrating his manhood, you’d think he’d be seen as a kind of model for young men who are struggling academically, socially, professionally, and emotionally in today’s world,” Brendan Hartnett, rapid-response editor for The Bulwark, wrote while sharing the poll results.
Hartnett added that the poll reveals “exactly the opposite” and shows the “limitations of Hegseth’s alpha-male preening.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Defense Department for comment.
