Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drew alarm from across the political spectrum Saturday night after reposting a clip of Secretary of State Marco Rubio attacking the International Criminal Court and adding what one critic argued was a “deeply un-American” seven-word message.
“Stop quoting laws to MEN WITH SWORDS,” Hegseth wrote.
That critic was journalist Aaron Rupar, who noted that “the military is subject to laws,” and that “we should not have leaders who disagree.”
“Earlier this year, President Trump made the unprecedented decision to sanction the fake International Criminal Court,” Rubio said in the clip, which the State Department shared.
The seven words weren’t Hegseth’s. Rubio borrowed them from the Roman general Pompey during a speech to the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention, presenting them as Washington’s answer if the court ever tried to hold Americans to account.
Coming from the man in charge of the U.S. military, the message landed differently.
“So, this is more frightening than his usual drivel,” wrote anti-disinformation activist Jim Stewartson. “The Defense Secretary has declared himself above the law.”
Former Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI) drew a line between the ICC fight and Hegseth’s framing. “Rejecting the ICC’s jurisdiction is one thing. Declaring that laws become irrelevant the moment swords appear is another,” he wrote. “That’s just ‘might makes right,’ which is a fundamental rejection of both Christian ethics and America’s founding.”
Even some on the right were unimpressed, though for different reasons. Conservative commentator Auron Macintyre wrote that the line “would go a lot harder if the admin hadn’t folded in the face of every illegitimate ruling by a federal court judge.”
Hegseth once branded military lawyers “jagoffs,” writing in his book “The War on Warriors” that legal constraints tied the hands of American forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Democratic political strategist Matt Royer pointed out how Pompey’s story ended. The general “was later stabbed and beheaded in Egypt,” he wrote, “so the swords didn’t exactly work out great.”
Stop quoting laws to MEN WITH SWORDS. — Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) November 15, 2026
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