'Could've been an email': Hegseth mocked as details emerge on 'short speech' to top brass
While concerns remain about mass firings, military leaders found out that a scheduled mass gathering of generals, admirals and other top brass will be, at least in part, to hear Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth deliver a "short speech," according to a new report.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that multiple people familiar with the event said Hegseth will deliver a brief speech on military standards and the “warrior ethos."
Hegseth sent a message to every person in a command position with a rank of one-star general or higher, instructing them to travel to Washington as soon as possible.
“It’s meant to be an eyeball-to-eyeball kind of conversation,” said an individual familiar with the ongoing discussions. “He wants to see the generals."
Hegseth was both ridiculed and questioned when details emerged about what was to come at his Tuesday meeting. Some speculated that pulling experts away from their command wasn't a smart strategy. Others focused on the dangers of having all of the top military leaders in one place.
Hegseth foes, however, began questioning whether the meeting is part of an effort by the Secretary of Defense to look tough.
"The plan? Make all the generals fly in from around the world to a single location so I can give them a cool speech on warrior stuff," remarked Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell on Bluesky.
"Less alarming than the other possibilities, but do all these generals and admirals, with decades of service, really need a lecture on the 'warrior ethos' from a former National Guard captain?" wrote Max Boot, a Post columnist and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"So I was basically right. Caligula's putting on a little show," lamented Ned Resnikoff, a Roosevelt Institute fellow.
"Definitely a meeting that could have been an email," Education professor Jon Becker commented.
"My dad was a colonel who trained pilots going into battle. If he’d been summoned to a lecture about the 'warrior ethos' from a Fox News host, he may have dive-bombed the Pentagon," said content creator and designer GoldenGateBlond.
Legal analyst Ken White mocked the ordeal with his own script of what he expected the meeting to entail:
"HEGSETH: Real warriors FIGHT
GENERALS: [noise of restrained approval]
HEGSETH: Real warriors DRINK
GENERALS: [somewhat less noise]
HEGSETH: NOBODY tells real warriors how much to drink or when or where
GENERALS: [awkward silence]"
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