2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 21, 2026 12:28 PM IST
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth mimicked US President Donald Trump at a recent campaign rally for Ed Gallrein, Trump’s preferred candidate in Kentucky.
Addressing supporters at the rally, Hegseth recalled a conversation with Trump when he was first offered the job of Defence Secretary. Mimicking Trump’s voice and tone, Hegseth said, “President Trump told me, ‘Pete, you’re gonna have to be tough as s***. They’re gonna come after you.’ And boy, was he right.”
Hegseth travelled to Kentucky to campaign for Trump backed candidate Ed Gallrein, who is challenging Massie in the Republican primary for the state’s 4th Congressional District. Massie, a longtime conservative lawmaker who has increasingly clashed with Trump in recent months, has become one of the president’s most vocal Republican critics in Congress.
Although Hegseth stressed he was attending the rally as a private citizen and not in his official Cabinet capacity, he repeatedly invoked Trump while attacking Massie and urging Republicans to unite behind Gallrein, according to the Associated Press reports.
“President Trump needs reinforcement and that’s what war fighters do. They stand behind leaders and have their back. Too often, Thomas Massie has acted like his job is to stand apart from the movement that President Trump leads, instead of strengthening it,” Hegseth stated.
