Pete Hegseth is facing backlash after attempting to imitate the late Lindsey Graham. Defense Secretary Hegseth made an impression during a ceremony honoring the senator. A video from the ceremony went viral, with many users criticizing him for his behavior.
Critics slammed Pete Hegseth’s voice mimicry during an official base renaming ceremony
A ceremony was held to rename Joint Base Charleston as Joint Base Lindsey Graham in honor of the longtime Republican senator. During the ceremony, Hegseth attempted to mimic Graham on stage.
While sharing a story about Graham, Hegseth attempted to imitate his accent; he tried to say, “I’ll never forget it.” However, he acknowledged that he couldn’t mimic Graham properly.
“I can’t do a Lindsey Graham accent. It always devolves into a Trump accent,” he said before continuing the story. The clip from the ceremony quickly went viral, with many online users criticizing Hegseth.
One user said, “Pete Hegseth missed the train on intelligence duty.” Meanwhile, another user said, “Disgraceful, Kegsbreath must resign.” One X user commented, “Looking forward to when he impersonates a normal human being.”
Another user wrote, “This is what happens when a wannabe model becomes the Secretary of Defense.”
According to RadarOnline, Hegseth also imitated President Trump later in the ceremony. He used the moment to recreate Trump’s familiar speaking style, drawing attention from the crowd as he continued speaking about the president’s message to service members. Hegseth said that whenever he asks Trump what he wants to say to American service members, the president gives the same response. Hegseth mimicked the response in the ceremony, saying, “Pete, tell ’em I love ’em.”
The ceremony honored Lindsey Graham, who died in July 2026 at the age of 71 following what his office described as “a brief and sudden illness.” Many colleagues, including Donald Trump, paid tribute to Graham.
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Originally reported by Aman Sharma on Mandatory
