While it’s true no president or political leader has ever used social media quite as prolifically as Donald Trump, no recent secretary of defense has ever weaponized X or any other platform, quite like former Fox & Friends weekend host, Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth is actively reshaping the Pentagon in his own image since taking over, prompting a social media policy that has taken a dramatic turn towards supporting Hegseth’s every move and public appearance.
Part of that has been the resurrection of the Pentagon’s so-called “rapid response team”. Originally the name of a public relations brainchild of former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld to combat what he saw as Iraq war disinformation, the new team seems to have a similar mandate according to its X account: “Fighting Fake News!”