Pete Hegseth is currently the Secretary of Defense, or as he likes to call it, “Secretary of War.” Hegseth loves “warrior” drag – he installed a makeup studio in the Pentagon specifically to look like a bigly warrior on television. That’s actually the least offensive part of Hegseth’s character. This is a man who was credibly accused to drugging and raping a woman in 2017 and he paid off his accuser/victim. He’s also so incompetent that he added an Atlantic journalist to a war group chat. But one of the most notable things about Hegseth is that he has substance abuse problems. It sounds like he’s a raging alcoholic and I think there’s a growing body of evidence to suggest that he’s abusing drugs as well. His “manic behavior” is the talk of the Pentagon.

Pete Hegseth is crumbling under the pressure of leading the Pentagon. The defense secretary—who prefers the moniker “Secretary of War”—is being described by staffers as “manic,” erupting into fits of rage and tumultuous tirades, the Daily Mail reported on Monday. While he has reportedly always been temperamental, two staffers claim the former Fox News star’s mental state has reached new, frenzied heights after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month. They said Hegseth is becoming increasingly “obsessed” with his own security and exhibits frantic behavior, such as fidgeting and pacing during meetings.

“There’s a manic quality about him. Or let me rephrase, an even more manic quality, which is really saying something,” an insider told the outlet.

“Dude is crawling out of his skin,” another source said.

The sources cited Hegseth’s increasingly erratic demands that have played out in public—most notably his recent order that every military official above the rank of one-star general fly in for a meeting in Virginia on Tuesday, even if stationed abroad. The gathering is being described as a “pep rally,” where Hegseth will address military standards and the so-called “warrior ethos,” multiple people familiar with the planned event told The Washington Post.

Also under scrutiny are Hegseth’s extensive personal security demands, which, according to the paper, are now straining the Army agency responsible for protecting him. The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has reportedly pulled agents away from criminal probes in order to safeguard Hegseth’s residences in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. Sources told the Mail that those security measures have, in part, been driven by Hegseth’s wife, former Fox News producer Jennifer Rauchet Hegseth, whose requests for protection go “far beyond” what’s been granted to other Trump administration officials.

“That warrior persona, he’s spooked,” they said.

[From The Daily Beast]

Paranoia, misogyny, booze, outrageous demands, blowing through money, Pentagon makeup studios, journalists added to the group chat, manic behavior, and what sounds a lot like cokehead rants… sounds pretty typical for this crew, actually. Ordering generals stationed around the world to attend a pep rally is a pretty cracked-out thing to do too. Like, I could see how Hegseth would think that was a good idea while “manic” in the Pentagon makeup studio at 3 am.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.