Pete Hegseth mocked the military of America’s allies and it totally blew up in his face – 17 totally on-point responses

Donald Trump’s secretary of defence Pete Hegseth is many things (keep it clean people, please!) one of which is a former Fox News presenter, and another is a one-time member of America’s Army National Guard.

And it was the second of these that Hegseth was harking back to when he talked about the role of the United States’ military abroad, and the work they do with America’s allies, about whom he was very less than flattering.

HEGSETH: We wore a patch on our shoulder that said ISAF — International Security Assistance Force. And you know what the joke was? That is stood for ‘I saw Americans fighting.’

COONS: Let’s just make clear for the record that our military partners in Afghanistan included many… pic.twitter.com/lAFGC1sX8e

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 11, 2025

Bravo to Democratic senator Chris Coons there.

And it’s fair to say it totally blew up in pistol Pete’s face.

1.

457 UK armed forces personnel died during the war in Afghanistan. Beyond those and US fatalities, a further 703 individuals from 30 nations were killed. Hegseth owes each of their families an apology. https://t.co/xcP6F33w1N

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) June 11, 2025

2.

Personnel who were killed in Afghanistan after answering the U.S. call for assistance under NATO’s Article 5.
United Kingdom: 457
Canada: 159
France: 90
Germany: 62
Italy: 53
Poland: 44
Denmark: 43
Australia: 41
Spain: 35
Georgia: 32
Romania: 27…

— Binks (@BinkyBaxter1) June 11, 2025

3.

I Saw Afghans Fighting.

And Brits. And Aussies. And Kiwis. And Canadians. And Danes. And Estonians. And many more.

I buried friends who fought under many flags.

I was proud to serve alongside many courageous Americans. But it wasn’t just America fighting. We stood as one. https://t.co/5I74opUQgY

— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) June 11, 2025

4.

Mocking our NATO brothers who died in the same dirt is peak armchair arrogance. ‘I saw Americans fighting’—yeah, and Brits, Aussies, Canadians, Poles, and more. Don’t rewrite the battlefield from behind a desk.

— POWER⚜️✊ (@9Chris__) June 11, 2025

5.

My small country, Estonia, population 1.3 million sent 2003-2014 over 2500 soldiers. 9 were killed in the line of duty. 109 wounded, half of them so seriously they could no longer lead a normal life. In Iraq 2003-2009 we had more than 440 soldiers. 2 were killed. 18 seriously… https://t.co/lqLUVtvhph

— toomas ilves, ex-verif (@IlvesToomas) June 11, 2025

6.

Shameful.

Hegseth spits on fallen allies with a smug joke—“I Saw Americans Fighting.”
Thousands died with us, not behind us.

This isn’t patriotism. It’s nationalist rot in a uniform.

— AnatolijUkraine (@AnatoliUkraine) June 11, 2025

7.

I served in the Afghanistan theater twice. I’ve never heard that joke. Never. https://t.co/vOyVGFKfm3

— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) June 12, 2025

8.

Looking forward to the day he comes face to face with a British veteran who served in the Helmand badlands and tries this bar-fly routine.

— Richard Vernalls (@rvernallsLtd) June 11, 2025