(José Niño, Headline USA) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced widespread mockery after recently sharing a years-old video of a Marine urging troops to be “combat ready” without apparently realizing the Marine had been relieved of duty for entering a subordinate’s home without permission, per a report by The Daily Beast.
On Friday, Hegseth reposted a video on social media featuring Marine Sgt. Maj. Christian Barry Bull delivering a fiery pep talk from his car. In the clip, Bull tells troops to “leave your feelings at home” and prepare themselves for combat. Hegseth shared the video as part of his push to build support for the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran.
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 21, 2026
In response to the video, Twitter user Lord Bebo tweeted, “SYMBOLIC: Secretary of War Hegseth shared a viral video of a Marine saying everyone in the Army needs to be combat-ready and serve America.
Ironically, he was fired in 2021. So he is not combat-ready and was doing shady stuff instead of serving the country. The fact that Hegseth did not check or know who he is—and that the clip is 5 years old—is very symbolic of the current state of affairs.”
🇺🇸 SYMBOLIC: Secretary of War Hegseth shared a viral video of a Marine saying everyone in the Army needs to be combat-ready and serve America.
→ Ironically, he was fired in 2021.
So he is not combat-ready and was doing shady stuff instead of serving the country.
The fact that… pic.twitter.com/t7RThmjaat
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) March 21, 2026
The post immediately backfired for two reasons. First, the video was filmed around 2021, which critics said made it look like lazy and decontextualized war propaganda, according to a report by The Poke. Second, Bull is a retired Marine who was relieved of command that same year for entering a subordinate’s home without permission.
The military publicly stated at the time that it had lost “confidence in his ability to lead” following the incident.
Politico reporter Paul McLeary noted on social media, “This video reposted by Defense Secretary Hegseth is from 2021 and is from a former Marine who broke into the home of another Marine and was relieved of duty.”
This video reposted by defense Secretary Hegseth is from 2021 and is from a former Marine who broke into the home
of another Marine and was relieved of duty. https://t.co/iPmrISg6af— Paul McLeary (@paulmcleary) March 21, 2026
Tom Nichols of The Atlantic wrote, “Good to see the SECDEF is staying right on top of things during a war.”
Good to see the SECDEF is staying right on top of things during a war https://t.co/0dqQt7CI7e
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 21, 2026
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
