Pete Hegseth is already under fire as many have questioned his orders for the Venezuelan boat strikes. An action proclaimed to be against drug infiltration in the U.S. became a moral question of war crime, as there was a second attack launched against two survivors. While President Donald Trump seems to have his support intact for the head of the Department of Defense, the same cannot be said for thousands of people against it.
According to reports Hegseth gave verbal orders to the commands, demanding that they ‘kill everybody’ on these vessels, which were suspected of carrying drugs. With more than 80 people dead, the debate has exploded, there is heightened debate about whether it was a planned war crime. Well, one must note that there was no Congressional approval on these attacks in the first place, and the shots were fired in violation of all these requirements.
I don’t know who Pete Hegseth was when he was an officer.
Based on his awards & citations he was a combat veteran.
As Secretary Of Defense he is a disaster.
A strutting buffoon with a private makeup room attached to his office.
He will likely be indicted for war crimes.
— Joe MacKrell (@sleepyjoe2) December 2, 2025
Two people were still clinging to life when the military hit the boat again. With so many answers and defenses to play for Hegseth, he recently faced a fresh new batch of allegations.
During a heated debate on CNN’s show NewsNight, hosted by Abby Phillip, political analyst Colby Hall critiqued the credibility of Pete Hegseth holding such an essential position in the first place. The accusations were levelled after a Navy admiral told Congress there was no ‘kill them all’ order from Hegseth.
Hall did not mince his words and directed ire towards Hegseth by the phrase “He’s a buffoon, he’s a total buffoon, and it begs the question, how’s he still in this role? And I’ll tell you, the answer is because, as Jeff Goldberg said on this network earlier, there is a culture of impunity in this administration. It’s from Trump, it’s from the Republican-led Congress, which will give a pass.”
Colby further pressed that people like Pete were unqualified to hold such office positions, but were getting a pass because it’s Donald Trump’s cabinet. He said, “These people are not qualified for these jobs, but they still get to hold them. That is the hypocrisy of the entire anti-woke Republican position. And you guys can never defend that. You put person after person in these jobs who do not deserve to be there. They’re failures.”
No one calls it the department of war except Hegseth, Trump, and Karoline Leavitt. Pete calls it that because he sees himself as some big, strong warrior. Everyone else thinks he’s a drunken buffoon.
— Recovering Republic 💙 (@DSusan14) December 2, 2025
Well, the harsh comment was publicized across social media, and more than a hundred netizens agreed with Hegseth being unfit for his role. Especially given the allegations surrounding his role in the strikes. One of them wrote, “Even the most ultra, all in MAGA cultists know that Pete Hegseth should NOT be the Sec Def”, while another netizen commented “, FUN FACT: When Pete Hegseth goes back to civilian life, his war crimes will still be punishable.” Some other netizen penned, “He can be picked up in any other country and charged, so good luck with that, Petey.” A third viewer stated, “Facts.”
Coming back to the incessant backlash faced by the Department of Defense against the strikes they carried out, the Republican government has been pretty strong with their arguments. Both Hegseth and Trump have repeatedly alleged that the popularized critical reports tainting the missile strikes were fabricated and incorrect. Both deemed the operations as lawful and carried out under specific orders.
In fact, Trump recently dismissed doubts and claimed that they were more than ready to furnish any video proof of the Venezuelan boat strikes.
Moreover, the 79-year-old dropped a significant hint of planning land strikes next, if that is all it takes to prohibit drugs from entering America. In his words, “Very soon, we’re going to start doing it on land, too. You know, the land is much easier … And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live. And we’re going to start that very soon, too.”
