(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was to focus of widespread mockery on Wednesday after CBS News revealed he “recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances.”
Hegseth, a former Fox News weekend morning show host, reportedly plans to spend “several thousand dollars” on the makeup studio, according to CBS’s sources.
A Defense Department spokesperson brushed off the upgrade in a statement to CBS, saying, “Changes and upgrades to the Pentagon Briefing Room are nothing new and routinely happen during changes in an administration.”
While the Pentagon may believe the makeup studio renovation is routine, critics were quick to pounce.
The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a former professor at the U.S. Naval War College, shared the report and commented, “Staying laser-focused on lethality and warfighting.” Nichols’ colleague Tyler Austin Harper replied, “They stormed the beaches of Normandy so that this man could put a makeup studio at the Pentagon.”
https://x.com/Tyler_A_Harper/status/1915115121111650717
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) reacted, “Nothing screams warrior culture more than a makeup studio. Hegseth was derelict in his duties by repeatedly using his personal phone to disclose ongoing combat operations, and is now wasting taxpayer dollars. How does a makeup studio at Pentagon help troops? He needs to resign.”
Another House Democrat, Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) replied, “New makeup studios. Private trips on government helicopters. Millions for Trump’s golf outings. Billions to Musk’s companies. Trump and his cabinet think working people should lose Medicaid and Social Security. But they could care less about “efficiency” when they benefit themselves.”
Below are some additional responses:
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