Podcaster Joe Rogan backed War Secretary Pete Hegseth's denunciation of what he called "woke garbage" and "fat generals" as Hegseth vowed to reform the U.S. military, Mediaite reported.
"You saw what ... was going on over the last four years," Rogan said Tuesday on his show.
"You got guys in dresses talking about how it's really important to have inclusiveness. 'It's the most important thing about the military, its inclusivity.'"
Rogan added, "We had crazy people that were in charge of very important positions."
Hegseth addressed about 800 admirals and generals at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Tuesday, urging the military to refocus on combat readiness and physical standards.
"The era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don't-hurt-anyone's-feelings leadership ends right now," Hegseth said.
He pledged to eliminate "woke garbage" and directed the armed forces to return to the "highest male standard."
"It's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops," Hegseth told the gathering. "Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country and the world.
"It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we are."
Rogan, who supported former President Donald Trump but has also criticized him, said he agreed with Hegseth's stance.
"No more [expletive] politics, no more identity politics and bull****," he said.
"The most important thing is be ready. Be ready, have the best, most capable military that's humanly possible given the resources that we have."
Reaction to Hegseth's remarks broke along party lines. Republicans praised his call for reform, while Democrats criticized the rhetoric.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the event "an expensive, dangerous dereliction of leadership."
He added: "While American forces confront real threats across the globe, Mr. Hegseth and President Trump chose to pull generals and admirals away from their missions to listen to hours of political grievances."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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