Pete Hegseth once begged his Fox News bosses to allow him to have a beard—seven years before announcing he was banning soldiers from sporting beards at their place of work.
Hegseth—who has rebranded himself as President Donald Trump’s “Secretary of War”—summoned 800 generals from around the world on Tuesday to give them a lecture on personal grooming.
Putting an immediate ban on “beardos” and long hair, the former TV presenter demanded an end to “the era of unprofessional appearance” in the military, saying: “This is on duty, in the field, and in the rear.
“If you want a beard, you can join special forces. If not, then shave.”
However, in his bizarre speech, Hegseth neglected to inform the Quantico audience that he himself once sported long hair and a beard, which he pleaded with his Fox News bosses to keep.
In late August 2018, Hegseth had returned to presenting Fox & Friends from some time off sporting a scruffy “vacation beard,” which led one X user to remark: “Who on earth approved for Pete Hegseth to grow that beard? He looks like he should be Duck Hunting with Phil Robertson—not on Fox News.”
It appears the online reaction may have sparked an idea for content among the show’s producers, who the following day green-lit a segment in which Hegseth’s facial hair was shaved off.
In the Fox & Friends clip, a bearded Hegseth can be seen lying in a barber’s chair with shaving foam on his face and a cut-throat razor to his neck, as his co-hosts make jokes about how it “has got to go.”
At one point Hegseth’s male co-host admits that he asks Fox News bosses every year if he can keep his vacation beard, but gets told no.
Hegseth replies: “I know, right?” He added: “I’m hoping to keep a moustache.”
The channel even ran a viewer poll titled, “Beard or no beard? @petehegseth.”
“53% of Twitter said keep it,” Hegseth said, pleading with his producers, before New York barber Sion Mirakov removed it.
A separate screenshot also shows Hegseth went on air as recently as August 2023 with long, lank hair, which could easily have made a ponytail.
Hegseth’s hairy edict followed an extraordinary, last-minute order summoning almost 1,000 generals from across the globe to Marine Corps University in Virginia with no stated agenda.
The Pentagon refused to explain the purpose ahead of time, and staff responsible for live operations were forced to scramble travel plans to get their bosses stateside—an expense and security headache that left critics seething.
Several officials bristled at the spectacle of a former weekend cable host dressing down the nation’s most decorated commanders on readiness, according to sources cited by The Washington Post
When the curtain finally lifted, it turned out to be a pep-talk on “warrior ethos,” complete with a lecture on appearance and discipline.
But during his speech, which was also attended by President Donald Trump, Hegseth didn’t just come for whiskers.
He also took aim at “fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,” declaring that every flag officer will have to make height-and-weight requirements and pass an annual fitness test, with daily unit or individual workouts baked in.
“If the Secretary of War can do regular, hard PT, so can every member of our joint force,” he said, referring to himself in the third person.
Yet Hegseth’s own résumé remains a sore point. His uniformed service was in the Minnesota Army National Guard, with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
But his post-service tenure running veterans’ nonprofits imploded amid accusations of financial mismanagement and staff-witnessed intoxication, according to a whistleblower dossier reported by the The New Yorker last December.
During his confirmation, Hegseth insisted he’d “never had a drinking problem” but vowed to quit alcohol if confirmed.
Former Fox colleagues and his ex-wife later described concerns about Hegseth’s alcohol use, amid separate accounts of on-the-job boozing.
It is not known whether he did indeed quit the booze.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment, and to ask if he was currently sober.
The Defense Department responded, saying “Please don’t waste our time with stupid, disrespectful questions.”
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