Of all the reactions to Hegseth’s speech to the assembled generals and admirals of the United States military, the one I least expected was a defense of fat, lazy, and physically incapable people.
But here we are. That is actually a thing.
I’ve seen several variations on a theme: requiring all soldiers to meet physical standards for strength and endurance is merely an attempt to toss women out of the military (despite years of liberals assuring us that women are just as capable of doing feats of physical strength and endurance), and that requiring soldiers and generals to meet weight requirements is outrageous.
There it is. His final move to remove women from the roles they have fought to gain. Pete isn’t a Ranger because dozens of women are he wants to tear down their accomplishments. What a weak small man. https://t.co/gqCqDcF0FJ
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) September 30, 2025
For decades, Americans have been assured that standards would not be lowered for the purpose of increasing diversity, and for decades, conservatives and former military people have rolled their eyes with the full knowledge that this was an empty promise. Standards are lowered all the time to meet informal quotas.
Strategic Deployment Behar is the best Behar. https://t.co/i1vcKtsXov
— JimDelRey (Bluesky Checkmark Insert Here) (@JimDelRey) October 1, 2025
Some commentators went full racist, implying that black people are fat, lazy, and stupid, and all women are incapable.
You’re exactly right. It’s infuriating.
— Jammles (@jammles9) October 1, 2025
John Harwood’s instant reaction was striking: none of Hegseth’s requirements had anything to do with race, but since Harwood is a racist who thinks that the only reason black people can achieve is through the help of benevolent white people who lower standards to accommodate black people, he sees high standards as an attack on black people and women.
My favorite line of attack was an invented story proving that physical fitness is now irrelevant due to drones. Given that drones exist, field soldiers can be as fat and slow as they like. There really are no situations that soldiers face where physical prowess matters anymore.
There was a Russian soldier, he was very impressive. Very highly trained. Had all the hallmarks of an excellent soldier. Obvious leadership skills, technical knowledge, muscle memory with his weapon. Great aim, physicality. Dude pulled his injured friend to safety with one arm…
— Andrew Perpetua (@AndrewPerpetua) September 30, 2025
There was a Russian soldier, he was very impressive. Very highly trained. Had all the hallmarks of an excellent soldier. Obvious leadership skills, technical knowledge, muscle memory with his weapon. Great aim, physicality. Dude pulled his injured friend to safety with one arm while engaging targets (and hitting them) shooting his rifle one handed. He had great situational awareness. He knew which lines to stay out of, where he was safe. He spotted a drone watching him that was around 300 meters away, shot it down with a single bullet. Kept moving.
Ya know what happened to him?
Three drones attacked at the same time. One dive bomber dropped a grenade. He saw it coming, dove over a wall to safety. He picked up his rifle, shot down another drone with a 3 round burst. And the third drone hit him in the back killing him instantly.
Ya know who can pilot drones? 40kg women. 140kg men. Tall people, disabled people. Dude in a wheelchair can fly a drone.
Your warrior spirit is obsolete. Live in the real world.
Yes, it is true that not all battlefield dangers are ones that physically fit soldiers can defeat, but given that a soldier’s combat loadout is 60-100 lbs, I doubt that fat soldiers are as capable of being lethal and surviving on the battlefield as our brilliant tactical theorist thinks they are.
who wins, the woman shoving shells with her m119, or one group of alpha male super soldiers?
— Andrew Perpetua (@AndrewPerpetua) September 30, 2025
An M119 shell weighs 35-40 lbs, which I concede some women can handle well enough, but a 155mm artillery shell weighs about 100 lbs, so I doubt that the average female soldier can sling those around all day in a fierce artillery battle. I know I couldn’t.
It’s remarkable to hear these arguments by Hegseth about physical strenght constituting the core part of lethality in modern warfare in a world of drone units and the like. There are many Russian soldiers who can do more push ups than any Ukrianian female soldier but what’s https://t.co/xGyCAkaHUB
— franklin Brown (@franklin19788) October 1, 2025
The idea that fat generals are no big deal is similarly stupid. Generals set an example, which is Hegseth’s point.
All these critiques are based on ignorance, hatred of Trump and Hegseth, and a hatred of the military as a fighting force. They say nothing about Hegseth and everything about how liberals think. DEI matters, and military effectiveness doesn’t.
The most obvious proof of that fact is that liberals were insanely happy about the use of the military to promote transgenderism. Transgender soldiers are, by definition, incapable of serving on the battlefield due to their medical needs–you can’t even have certain allergies and serve–but Biden’s move to provide medical transitions was celebrated because it was an alphabet victory, so lethality was seen as irrelevant.
Hegseth’s point stands: the military is not a social experiment. It is a fighting force.
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