‘The View’ co-hosts slammed for accusing Pete Hegseth of ‘fat-shaming’ the military

Pete Hegseth said it was completely unacceptable to see overweight generals and admirals in the Pentagon or leading commands, calling it a bad look
PUBLISHED OCT 1, 2025
‘The View’ co-hosts criticized Pete Hegseth’s push for tougher military fitness standards, accusing him of fat-shaming troops (Screengrab/Fox News, The View)
‘The View’ co-hosts criticized Pete Hegseth’s push for tougher military fitness standards, accusing him of fat-shaming troops (Screengrab/Fox News, The View)


 

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: ‘The View’ co-hosts took a jab at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s message to service members on Tuesday, September 30, regarding increased military fitness standards, accusing him of “fat-shaming” US troops.

During his remarks to hundreds of commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth called out “fat troops.”

He said, “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the world. It’s a bad look.”

Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin call out Pete Hegseth’s military remarks

During Tuesday’s edition of the talk show, co-host Joy Behar asked, “Why is he obsessed with fat?” as co-host Sunny Hostin added, “And fitness.”

Meanwhile, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin responded to Hegseth’s remarks, saying, “All of these people from different backgrounds come together and fight for the American values. So, I don’t understand why we have to denigrate the military to try to talk about doing better. And I would also mention we did have a recruiting crisis, but in 2024 and 2025, finally the military met recruitment goals, which is huge.”



 

Griffin also added, “I did not like that Pete Hegseth, who did serve his country but chose to denigrate the service of others.” Behar chimed in again, saying, “And fat-shaming!” while slamming his speech. “I’m really befuddled by why he did that. The optics were terrible.”



 

Hostin also remarked, “It also didn’t make a lot of sense to me that he was saying that he was going to toughen physical standards and review the anti-hazing policy by sort of implementing a hazing policy and then also he said he was going to return to the highest male standard for combat positions because the troops were fat. I just, I don’t understand how that was supposed to be an uplifting message for our military.”



 

Hegseth announced that all combat personnel would be required to meet the highest male physical standard to maintain their positions.

He also told officers to “resign” if they disagreed with eliminating “woke” diversity measures and removing restrictions on lethal force on the battlefield.

“If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign. We would thank you for your service. But I suspect the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words make your hearts full,” he told the audience. 

Internet slams 'The View' co-hosts for their statements

Several internet users criticized 'The View' co-hosts after they blasted Pete Hegseth for his message to service members about increasing military fitness standards, accusing him of “fat-shaming” US troops.

One user wrote on X, “Gotta keep people who think like her as far away from power as possible.” Another added, “The View wants applause. The military needs warriors. Big difference.” 



 



 

A person also stated, “If we were to fight WWII with our military that came from the last four years, we would be speaking German. I think this is great news from our new Warfighters!” One mentioned, “Oh yes, Sunny, because nothing says ‘combat ready’ like lowering the bar until even The View’s studio audience can enlist.”



 



 

A user also wrote, “It was uplifting! You’ve never been in the military so you don’t understand! Sit this one out.” Another commented, “The military doesn’t exist to uplift people, they are there to put America’s enemies in the dirt.”



 



 

And one person added, “They should toughen physical standards on The View.”



 

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.

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