The Aporia · Pete Hegseth 💩 the Bed Again

Pete Hegseth 💩 the Bed Again

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Cite

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Last, J. V. (2026, September 5). Pete Hegseth 💩 the Bed Again. The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/pete-hegseth-the-bed-again

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Quick Summary

A commentary piece written in the first person, critical of Pete Hegseth's management style as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Sen. Thom Tillis has previously suggested that President Trump fire Hegseth due to his perceived incompetence. The author lists two incidents: Hegseth making a joke about Canada on Twitter, which they claim reveals his unpreparedness for modern warfare, and the Department of Veterans Affairs under Hegseth's leadership spending time on non-essential issues rather than focusing on veterans' health and well-being.

Written by AI on 2026-09-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Pete Hegseth, a senior Pentagon official, has been criticized for his management of the US military and his handling of sensitive issues related to national defense. Sen. Thom Tillis recently called for President Trump to fire Hegseth, stating that he has never seen more inept management of the military. Tillis accused Hegseth of being intimidated by competent individuals and instead focusing on culture wars rather than addressing critical national security matters. In a separate incident, Hegseth tweeted a joke about Canada's trade war with the US, mocking an image of two young women in vaguely military attire from a Canadian summer cadet program. The photo was actually taken from the Instagram account of a program for kids between 12 and 18 years old who are working on leadership skills, not from any official Canadian Army source.

Written for “Pete Hegseth's Controversy” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans strongly left

expected in commentary, which argues a position · beta estimate

Publisher signals

not measured

these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Bulwark · 559 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected

No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Jonathan V. Last

34 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

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Topics

American Canada Canadian The Canadian Army WAR

Subjects

Hegseth PERSON · 4× Canadian NORP · 3× American NORP · 2× Pete Hegseth PERSON · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× Canada GPE · 1× Marxist NORP · 1× The Canadian Army ORG · 1× Thom Tillis PERSON · 1× WAR ORG · 1×

Narrative

He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force.1 I’m not sure this assessment goes far enough.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-05

2026-09-05 · The Bulwark

Pete Hegseth 💩 the Bed Again · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

1. Secretary of Trolls Yesterday Sen. Thom Tillis said that President Trump should fire Pete Hegseth. asserted

Trump → say → Hegseth

I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. asserted

who → witness → country

assessment → intimidate → force.1

Today I want to talk about three small incidents that underscore just how much damage Hegseth is doing to American security. asserted

Hegseth → want → security

Eager to get a couple licks in on Trump’s trade war with Canada, Hegseth tweeted this out: asserted

Hegseth → get → this

The super butch secretary of WAR is making fun of an American ally by pointing to two women in vaguely military attire and waving his hands. asserted

secretary → make → hands

Let’s stop for a moment to give you the real story about that photo. asserted

’s → let → photo

It’s from the Instagram account of a Canadian cadet summer program, in which kids between the ages of 12 and 18 spend the summer working on leadership and service. asserted

kids → ’ → leadership

The Canadian military is filled with professional soldiers. asserted

military → fill → soldiers

Hegseth ought to know; 158 Canadian Armed Forces members gave their lives in Afghanistan fighting America’s war for no reason other than honor and solidarity. asserted

members → know → honor

We knew this. asserted

We → know → this

What his tweet exposes is how utterly unprepared he is for modern warfare. asserted

he → expose → warfare

Over the last several months Hegseth and his team have spent a lot of energy Join Bulwark+ to unlock the rest Become a paying member of The Bulwark to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. asserted

Hegseth → spend → post

A subscription gets you: - Unlimited access to articles and newsletters including The Triad by JVL and Receipts by Catherine Rampell. - Ad-free editions of our shows (with transcripts) and member-only shows like The Secret Podcast. asserted

subscription → get → Podcast

Your support helps keep our work sustainable and available to those who cannot afford a membership. asserted

who → help → membership