Adam Kinzinger takes aim at Pete Hegseth’s masculinity following Yemen group chat blunder

If there’s one person we can count on to hold the Trump administration to account, it’s Adam Kinzinger, and this time he’s taken square aim at Pete Hegseth. 

As for what exactly the Defense Secretary needs to be accountable for, the list is pretty lengthy, from past comments about women in the military to plans for a migrant detention center in Guantanamo Bay. But Kinzinger’s current fixation is Hegseth’s involvement in the group chat that accidentally texted the administration’s war plans in Yemen to the editor in chief of The Atlantic. 

. @SecDef response to the @TheAtlantic article….

“You’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited “so-called journalist” pic.twitter.com/pLtcUF4ZtN

— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) March 24, 2025

Yep, the seismic blunder that has all the makings of an episode of Veep has made its way to Kinzinger’s desk, and he’s responding with a Selena Meyer-like dose of venom. The politician recently took to social media to criticize Hegseth’s response to the texting debacle, which saw the Defense Secretary skirt accountability and instead launch an attack on Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic journalist who was just trying to enjoy his morning coffee when he was inexplicably roped into the federal government’s war plans. 

“You’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited ‘so-called journalist,’” Hegeseth said of Goldberg when addressing the situation with reporters. Hegseth went on to claim that Goldberg has previously peddled “hoaxes” about the Trump administration, before declaring that “nobody was texting war plans.” It’s a wonder how his pants didn’t catch on fire, since even the White House has confirmed that the screenshots of the group chat included in Goldberg’s article were authentic. 

Super masculine and “warrior minded” to blame others and not take responsibility and whine https://t.co/6oADSlDL4Z

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) March 25, 2025

Thankfully, Kinzinger arrived on the scene before any pants-related fires went kablooey. “Super masculine and ‘warrior minded’ to blame others and not take responsibility and whine,” Kinzinger wrote of Hegseth’s response. He appears to be referencing Hegseth’s statements during his confirmation hearing as Defense Secretary, in which he vowed to bring a “warrior culture” to the U.S. military. I guess that warrior mindset doesn’t apply when it comes time to confront your own mistakes head-on?

Why is everyone in MAGA going after Waltz when it was @PeteHegseth @SecDef that sent all the classified stuff?

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) March 25, 2025

Kizinger’s criticism of Hegseth didn’t stop there. In a separate X post, the politician questioned why only Mike Waltz — the national security advisor who actually added Goldberg to the group chat — was receiving backlash, when “it was [Hegseth] who sent all the classified stuff.” So angered was Kinzinger by the whole fiasco that he eventually switched to a video response, which saw him outline the repercussions that would’ve eventuated if anyone else had committed such a blatant national security blunder. 

Any member of the military who did what they did on signal would be kicked out or arrested. pic.twitter.com/jIPj3998XT

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) March 25, 2025

“Anyone of us that served in the military or serves in the military would be in Leavenworth [military prison] if we did this,” Kinizinger declared, “and they can’t put this all on Mike Walz, all of them own it.” It remains to be seen whether anyone involved in text-gate (yep, it’s gate-worthy) will be punished, but since this is the Trump administration, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were actually promoted.