Criss-crossing the country, sometimes hitting up multiple states in the same day, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has emerged as one of the most visible campaign surrogates during this midterm election campaign.
Last week alone, he was in Ohio and Wisconsin, where he sang the praises of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI).
Typically, a defense secretary stays off the campaign trail, but Hegseth is not like prior secretaries of defense — or war. He has two ongoing tours: The Arsenal of Freedom tour, which gives him the opportunity to visit defense companies’ manufacturing plants, and his Send Me tour, where he encourages recruitment, does workouts with troops, and films his physical hype videos.
Inevitably, the energetic campaigning, with its distinct marketing, has raised questions over whether Hegseth has his eye on running for office himself.
“What is not normal is to have a tour,” a former Pentagon official told the Washington Examiner. “That is not normal. What is normal for Cabinet heads is to help at election time, where they can and when they are hopefully following the guidance of the political team in terms of areas they should go and help.”
The former official added: “It’s my opinion that whether he’s looking to run for office or just trying to broaden his appeal, doing some favors are helpful when he does leave the Pentagon, whenever that is. This will help keep his options open, whether that’s the corporate side or running for office.”
On Tuesday, Hegseth first stopped in Dayton, where he toured the Sierra Nevada Corporation, where he was introduced by Moreno, whom he said “displays courage on a daily basis,” and he praised Davidson.
After his address, Hegseth flew to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to tour Riverside Machine and Engineering. He was joined by Van Orden, who is currently in a tight reelection bid against Democrat Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. Hegseth did not directly endorse Van Orden, nor did he mention Cooke, but he did talk up his “great friend.”
When taking questions from the media, Hegseth said of Van Orden, “No more steadfast supporter on Capitol Hill than that man right there, who never forgets where he came from — whether it’s the U.S. Navy, whether it’s the SEALs or whether it’s Wisconsin.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, center, poses with members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets on the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Kentucky, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26262855560989.jpg?w=1024" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26262855560989.jpg" alt="Pete Hegseth poses with members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets on the sideline during an NCAA college football game." class="wp-image-4777175" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26262855560989.jpg 1024w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26262855560989.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26262855560989.jpg?resize=768,512 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, center, poses with members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets on the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Kentucky, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo)
It’s a frequent occurrence.
The secretary also shouted out Texas GOP lawmakers August Pfluger and Morgan Luttrell during a visit to Saronic Technologies in Austin on Sept.18. During a trip to Nebraska and Wisconsin in late August, Hegseth praised both of Nebraska’s senators, Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts, who met him at U.S. Strategic Command near Omaha, and later he praised GOP lawmaker Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) during the second half of that day trip in Wisconsin. Hegseth attended a campaign event for Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) in Iowa in August. He initially planned to do the event in March, but his appearance was ultimately canceled following the start of the war in Iran.
During a “Send me” stop at the University of Tennessee, Hegseth was photographed with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is currently running for the governorship. Should Blackburn win, she would need to select her own replacement for the Senate seat she’d vacate, and Hegseth has been linked to the seat given he lived in Tennessee before Trump picked him to lead the military. Hegseth has already run one political campaign, more than a decade ago when he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 in Minnesota, but ended his campaign before that year’s primary election.
“He has a lot of traits that fit well with the Republican base. He’s charismatic,” a former Trump administration official told the Washington Examiner. “He’s good-looking. He has a number of wins under his belt that I think the Republican base would like — for example, actually increasing recruiting for the U.S. military, getting the message back to basics, it’s about warfighting, hammering down on woke politics within DOW. I think that resonates with the Republican base.”
Leslie Shedd, a former senior adviser on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who now serves as a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, told the Washington Examiner: “I think, if he chose to run for office in the future, he could have a very long political career.
“But I don’t think you can look at some of the trips he has taken where he may have expressed support for Republicans running for office as an indication that he is planning to run for office.”
The prospect of Hegseth replacing Blackburn in Congress would be controversial, given his contentious relationship with Democrats — as well as some Republicans.
In May, he took the extraordinary step of endorsing Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, a GOP challenger who ended up defeating Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the primary. Massie later went on to introduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth. Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has said Hegseth should be fired and that he regrets voting for him during his confirmation hearing. During that hearing, Hegseth was repeatedly pressed on his marriage infidelity, claims of excessive alcohol consumption, and a sexual misconduct allegation. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the deciding vote to confirm him.
Notably, Hegseth pursued charges against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, who was one of six Democrats who came out with a video last year calling on service members not to carry out illegal orders. While the Democrats were restating the law, the underlying implication was that President Donald Trump or Hegseth could order them to do something illegal. Trump called for them to be charged with treason.
The divide between Hegseth and congressional democrats has only deteriorated since then, as Democrats have raised concerns about the department’s policies toward Ukraine, lethal boat strikes in the Western Hemisphere, and the war in Iran. Some Democrats have raised the possibility of pursuing impeachment charges, should they win back the House of Representatives in the midterm elections.
“The imperative since Washington has been to keep partisan politics away from soldiering,” Robert Wilkie, who served as Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Trump’s first term, told the Washington Examiner. “The imperative since Washington has been to keep partisan politics away from soldiering. Generals Marshall and Eisenhower did not even vote. I did not know my own father voted until I was in college and he never expressed a political opinion to me—he was a senior officer in the 82nd Airborne Division.”
He continued: “Partisan political activities are contrary to the tradition of a non-partisan military—Secretaries of Defense and State never attended national political conventions until this Secretary. He also broke the mold by refusing to meet with Democrats prior to his confirmation. Regardless of what one thinks about the Democrats’ view of national security policy—they have a vote and represent soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.
‘CHANGES THE BALANCE OF LEVERAGE’: ZELENSKY TRIES TO HOLD ON AS TRUMP PRESSURES HIM TO CONCEDE
“Appearances matter and safeguards were put in place by Washington and the founding generations to ensure we would never travel down the road of the European monarchies and later the Latin American dictatorships where political reliability was the ticket of entry and advancement.”
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
Continue reading...
[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
