Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s obsession with what he considers manly traits puts him in a distinct minority, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by YouGov for The Bulwark and the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” found that Americans give the former Fox News weekend host poor marks as a model for men. Of the nine men in the poll, only President Donald Trump fared worse.
The Bulwark noted that Hegseth “obviously sees himself as a paragon of masculinity,” pointing to his push to rebrand the Pentagon as the Department of War, his order requiring service members to be screened for low testosterone, his frequent workout videos with troops, his mockery of overweight people as “fatties” and his well-documented skepticism of women in leadership.
“With the amount of effort the secretary puts into demonstrating his manhood, you’d think he’d be seen as a kind of model for young men who are struggling academically, socially, professionally, and emotionally in today’s world,” the Bulwark’s Brendan Hartnett wrote. “But a new national survey … shows it’s exactly the opposite.”
Only 28% of American adults said Hegseth is a strong role model for American men, while 39% said he is not. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, just 18% saw him that way, compared with 34% who didn’t.
Hartnett wrote that the findings expose the limits of Hegseth’s “alpha male preening.”
His boss did even worse. Fifty-five percent said Trump is not a strong male role model and 37% said he is, a net rating of minus 18.
The top-rated men were actor Matthew McConaughey (net plus 33), former President Barack Obama (plus 28) and NBA star LeBron James (plus 25). Obama had the highest share calling him a strong role model, at 59%, including 28% of Trump voters.
Not every Democrat fared well. California Gov. Gavin Newsom landed at minus 2, with 35% calling him a strong male role model and 37% disagreeing.
The poll surveyed 1,417 adults Oct. 10 to 14 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
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