‘What a try hard dork’: Adam Kinzinger reacts to Pete Hegseth’s speech about ‘restoring the warrior ethos’

Adam Kinzinger continues to take shots at the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, in the wake of the Signal group chat leak. 

Speaking to a crowd at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, Hegseth can be heard doing his best Donald Trump impression as he recalls what the president apparently told him, “Pete, you’re gonna have to be tough as s***.” He then went on to say that Trump personally tasked him with restoring “the warrior ethos to our military,” according to Hegseth, that meant getting “back to basics: warfighting, lethality, accountability, readiness, standards. Across our formations.”

Adam Kinzinger reacts to Pete Hegseth’s speech

Of course, Kinzinger wasn’t having any of it, choosing to barely engage with Hegseth’s nonsense and instead simply call him out for being what he is: “a try hard dork.”

What a try hard dork https://t.co/xcv51EcOCm

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) March 28, 2025

Why is dork such a funny insult to call somebody? No matter the context it’s always 100% effective for some reason. Anyways, Kinzinger has a point, Hegseth’s speech was starting to sound like one of those toxic alpha-male podcasters — the kind who are all talk but deep down you know they’re a dork, *cough* Andrew Tate *cough*.

Other’s on X mocked Hegseth even more, one person wrote, “This man has zero gravitas,” while another asked if the Secretary of Defense was “Tough enough to admit a mistake?” A third complained that Hegseth’s characterization of the military prior to his arrival was out of line, “I resent the implication that our military was just hanging around and needed to be restored.  They were, they are, the best.”

There were also numerous references to Hegseth’s drinking. In a response to Kinzinger’s post, X user, Rebecca Yeisley wrote, “If only microphones functioned as breathalyzers…” At a recent congressional hearing, Hegseth was asked if he had been drinking when he sent the military attack plans in the Signal group chat.

Pete Hegseth and the Signal drama

The Secretary of Defense has recently been under a lot of scrutiny after military plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen were leaked to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg. Hegseth has denied the contents of Goldberg’s article, telling reporters in Hawaii, “nobody’s texting war plans,” but the reality of the situation is clear as day.

Considering all that talk he made in his speech about bringing the military back to basics you’d think he would at least try to set a better standard. He even says the word “accountability” when talking about the qualities he wants to restore — where’s your accountability Pete? Where are your standards? Adam Kinzinger was right this guy really is a “try hard dork.”