Pete Hegseth Just Threw Out A Bunch Of Absurd Slurs While Talking About Transforming The Military—And Gavin Newsom Clapped Back Hard

California Governor Gavin Newsom mocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after Hegseth delivered a slur-filled speech about who he's trying to bar from U.S. military service.

Speaking at U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth claimed that the Trump administration's cultural reimagining of the nation's armed forces has been a grand success. But, as evidenced by what he told those in attendance, this "success" was only possible because the Department of Defense has made no secret of excluding certain groups.

He bragged:

"It's worth saying again so the fake news understands it: we are no longer the woke department or the weak department."

"Simple translation of that: No fatties, no tr*nnies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors, just tough, ready, committed troops."

"The War Department, as you know, is colorblind, gender neutral, and merit-based. Or, as the president likes to repeat: central casting."

Hegseth went on to add that "the ideological clowns are out, the patriotic cowboys are in, with testosterone testing on top." This is in line with an announcement Hegseth made over the summer that service members age 30 and older will be screened annually and treated for testosterone deficiency.

The decision to screen active-duty service members for testosterone levels and offering testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) when appropriate is part of an effort to keep U.S. troops on the "leading edge of lethality."

You can hear what Hegseth said in the video below.

Hegseth's speech soon attracted the attention of Newsom, who pointed out how much Hegseth's declarations make no sense.

For starters, President Donald Trump's antics alone inspired Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to point out just how "weird" he and other Republicans are—and it's not like Trump's gotten any less weird in the nearly two years since he returned to office.

Secondly, Vice President JD Vance is always looking a little scruffy, so it's not like he'd qualify for military service based on Hegseth's prescriptions.

Newsom summed it up pretty well when he shared a photo of Trump and Vance and remarked:

"You heard the man. No beardos and weirdos."

You can see his response below.

Many have condemned Hegseth's remarks, not to mention his hypocrisy.

Hegseth previously said his move to refer to the Department of Defense as the "Department of War" is important because the country has lost its "warrior ethos" and that the country's founders "wanted an empowered military—the handcuffs were taken off—to fight to win, and then bring those troops home."

Despite criticism of his own physical condition, Hegseth has encouraged service members to watch or read a speech he delivered in May at Quantico in which he declared the end of what he called a “woke” military, criticized “fat generals,” and said female troops should be held to the same physical fitness standards as men.