Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt exposes Pete Hegseth’s disgusting eating habits and Internet is repulsed

WASHINGTON, DC: Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt stunned viewers by exposing a stomach-turning detail about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s filthy bagel habit during a live broadcast on Wednesday, April 16.

The revelation rekindled memories of Hegseth’s infamous 2019 admission that he hadn’t washed his hands in nearly a decade, The Daily Beast reported. At the time, Hegseth even claimed germs aren’t “real” because he “can’t see them,” sparking widespread disbelief and criticism.

Fox News hosts reminisce about Pete Hegseth’s questionable eating habits

On Wednesday, Fox News hosts Ainsley Earhardt and Joe Concha took a nostalgic detour as they reminisced about Defense Secretary  Pete Hegseth's questionable habit of eating food off the floor.

The conversation unfolded during the closing segment of 'Outnumbered', which featured a discussion about a TikTok video testing the infamous “five-second rule.”

The video showed that bacteria grow on dropped food almost instantly, regardless of how quickly it’s picked up.

Taking the test to heart, Concha dramatically ate a banana he had just dropped on the studio floor, prompting visible disgust from co-hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy, Lara Trump, and Earhardt.

Campos-Duffy, who used to co-host 'Fox & Friends Weekend' with Hegseth, joked that Concha was “auditioning for the Pete Hegseth seat.”

Earhardt then recalled one particularly gross memory when Hegseth once dropped a bagel, complete with cream cheese, face-down on the floor and still ate it without hesitation.

“He would drop it, it would land upside down, the cream cheese on the floor, and he would pick it up,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Wait, is there any hair on there?’ It was so gross, and he would just pop it in his mouth.”

Concha followed up with another story, recalling Hegseth admitting he didn’t wash his hands after using the bathroom. One of the hosts chimed in, “He said that once on air!”

Earhardt defended him with a laugh, saying, “He’s like an Army guy—you know, he’s tough!”

The moment referenced Hegseth’s viral comment from a February 2019 episode of 'Fox & Friends Sunday', where he declared, “I don’t think I’ve washed my hands for 10 years,” claiming he didn’t believe in germs because he couldn’t see them.

He later clarified he was joking and poking fun at people obsessed with hand sanitizer.

Internet calls Pete Hegseth a 'disgusting person'

After Pete Hegseth's gross habits were revealed during a live Fox News discussion, internet users quickly flooded social media with disgusted reactions

=Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth speaks during a joint press conference held with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte during the NATO Defense Ministers' meeting on February 13, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

One X user wrote, "Bagel with hair + dust cream cheese 🤮."

Another user shared a GIF saying, "This is a mess."

One person expressed, "Pete Hegseth’s bagel story is nasty science says the 5-second rule is a myth, with bacteria hitting food in under 1 second. 🤢"

Another called Hegseth "gross 🤢." 

One individual joked, "He didn't have to worry about the germs because the alcohol on his breath would kill the germs for him."

An X user asked, "Tough or was he drunk? Sounds like something a drunk dude would do."

Another questioned, "How is that a plus, wtf?!?" accompanied by a GIF of a man pretending to vomit.

One individual said, "So Pete is exactly who we all thought he was. A disgusting person!"

Someone else wrote, "But he washed it down with vodka."

Another added, "He seems like a dirty gross cretin."

This article contains remarks made on the internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.