Gavin Newsom trolled Pete Hegseth on Tuesday with a Simpsons reference mocking the defense secretary’s bizarre pep talk to the military’s top brass.
The California governor’s press office posted an image of Simpsons character Ralph Wiggum, the intellectually disabled son of Springfield’s bumbling police chief, wearing urine-soiled pants, with the caption, “PETE AT HIS BIG MEETING THIS MORNING!”
The original image featured the caption “I’m uncomfortable,” but Newsom’s team tweaked it to read “I’m WAR SECRETARY,” with Springfield’s courthouse relabeled “TRUMP” in the background.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host who critics say is unqualified to lead the Pentagon, summoned the military’s top brass to Quantico, Virginia on Tuesday to lecture them on everything from personal grooming to physical fitness.
The “warrior ethos” meeting was extremely unusual, forcing high-ranking officers to make quick travel arrangements — a possible security risk that could cost taxpayers millions.
“We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans,” he said in the speech at Marine Corps University. “No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression.”
“We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards,” he added.
Hegseth also chastised “fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,” claiming that military leaders must now meet height and weight requirements in addition to passing two yearly physical tests.
Newsom, on his own X account, mocked Hegseth’s new fitness demands with an unbecoming photo of President Trump at McDonald’s.
Newsom wrote, “I guess the Commander in Chief needs to go!”
Newsom’s press office further ridiculed Hegseth by posting an A.I. image of the “FAT COMMANDER IN CHIEF” eating McDonald’s hamburgers with drones delivering him more in the background.
His press office captioned the image of Trump, “IT’S COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE TO SEE A FAT COMMANDER IN CHIEF IN THE HALLS OF THE WHITE HOUSE!”
On Monday, Newsom shared a Daily Beast article about Hegseth’s purported “manic” behavior, which he used to call out the defense secretary’s deployment of federal troops to ICE protests in Los Angeles in June.
“He deployed 4,700 soldiers to an American city. ‘Manic’ seems right,” the press office wrote.
The Department of Defense fired back at Newsom in a statement to the Daily Beast, saying he should “spend less time criticizing” Hegseth.
“Gavin Newsom should spend less time criticizing Secretary Hegseth and more time fixing the disaster he created in California. The Department of War had to send in the National Guard because Newsom couldn’t handle his own state. He’s a failed governor trying to distract from his own incompetence,” said press secretary Kingsley Wilson.
Hegseth has been exhibiting “frantic” behavior, including fidgeting and pacing during meetings, an insider told Daily Mail.
“There’s a manic quality about him. Or let me rephrase, an even more manic quality, which is really saying something,” an insider said.
