People have a lot of negative things to say about Pete Hegseth, and not all of them are related to his role in the Trump administration. At least not directly. The Secretary of Defense’s hygiene habits have come under scrutiny again after a viral video appeared to show him wiping his nose and then running the same hand through his hair.
You might recall how Pete previously claimed he hadn’t washed his hands in 10 years. And he seemed proud of that, for some reason. But, of course, his critics were grossed out then, and they’re especially grossed out after seeing the more recent video.
Pete was speaking at Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina.
Pete Hegseth wipes his nose, then runs his hand through his hair pic.twitter.com/CXml9BpeER
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 10, 2026
On social media, the brief moment in which he ran his hand through his hair has gotten a significant amount of attention. There have been reports that Pete had a makeup studio installed at the Pentagon, leading people to think he’s quite vain and obsessed with his appearance. As it turns out, though, he might not even be using actual hair gel.
“And ya’ll thought he used hair gel 🤣” one commenter wrote on X after seeing how Pete wiped his nose then ran his hand through his hair. People also made jokes about how his snot might act as a “natural hair gel” of sorts, which is obviously pretty gross.
“He is disgusting,” another person commented. “Who wants to shake his hands?”
The fact that he claims he doesn’t wash his hands certainly doesn’t help.
This is a man who does not wash anythiiiing. https://t.co/OjfYCFxaG0 pic.twitter.com/lB5RCPsQaN
— Michelle Kinney (@MichelleKinney) August 10, 2026
In the comments, someone referred to him as “the guy who bragged on national TV about never washing his hands,” while another person said he “is so gross in every way.”
People also questioned why he would do this in public, presumably knowing that everyone would see it. “He has to be aware that everyone in the world would see this, right?” a third critic questioned.
At the same time, this is the man who proudly admitted that he doesn’t wash his hands. So, it would probably be safe to assume that he’s not all that embarrassed by this moment going viral.
In 2019, Pete said, “I don’t think I’ve washed my hands for 10 years. I don’t really wash my hands ever.” He also claimed that germs are not a real concern. “Germs are not a real thing,” he added. “I can’t see them, therefore, they’re not real.”
He later tried to claim he was joking.
https://t.co/55ERJIAB3c pic.twitter.com/skpFt0ODgW
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 10, 2026
Clearly, there are a lot of people who don’t actually believe him. We can only hope that Pete washes his hands sometimes, and that the whole “10 years” thing was a pretty extreme exaggeration.
But when he clarified his viewpoint on the topic of hand hygiene, he still made it sound like he’s not too worried about keeping his hands germ-free. “My half-hearted commentary to the point is, we live in a society where people walk around with bottles of Purell in their pockets, and they sanitize 19,000 times a day as if that’s going to save their life,” he told USA Today. “I take care of myself and all that, but I don’t obsess over everything all the time.”
Even if he did wash his hands at some point after wiping his nose, the clip still disgusted people. Beyond hygiene concerns, it also exacerbated rumors about Pete’s alleged drug and alcohol usage. After seeing the clip, some critics asserted that there’s “no way he’s sober.”
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