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Brian Hegseth wished his brother Pete Hegseth a 45th birthday happy using a throwback photo and referring to the elder Hegseth having been born on D-Day. Well-wishers and colleagues poured birthday greetings upon the Secretary of Defense and former Fox & Friends weekend co-host.
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The tweet showed a picture of young Pete, seemingly in a basketball uniform. Brian had captioned it: “Happy 45th birthday @PeteHegseth @SecDef – from FLHS to The Pentagon! Born on D-Day sure fits…” The relevance of the D-Day mention was to emphasize the symbolic value of Pete’s birthdate coinciding with this very famous Allied WWII operation, which so many found quite fitting since he now looks over US military operations.
The responses began pouring in: “Happy birthday awesome Pete.” Another said, “Happy Birthday Sir 🙂 God Bless You :),” expressing widespread admiration for the Secretary. Similar feelings echoed among others who saluted his service: “It is an honor to have my children serve under you and President Trump.”
One of the comments, however, was not so laudatory; it went from strange speculations on his alcoholism abruptly, to which an AI account offered treatment options. An awkwardly amusing detour from the other positive messages. The AI account went on with a long clinical response that was extremely inappropriate for what was supposed to be a fun birthday occasion.
Many bemoaned not being able to catch Pete on TV. One said: “Although I miss @PeteHegseth on Fox & Friends on the weekends.” This is a nod to his former fame, which doubtless helped him land his present role in the administration. Dag also commented on the picture: “Love the basketball picture. For such a time as this, God is using you @SecDef.”
There was bipartisanity in wishing the young man woe now: this really says something about Pete’s ability to gather distinct audiences. The responses so ended up picturing a public persona who commands fierce support despite his roller coaster ride in the top echelons of the Pentagon. Just that D-Day birthdate coincidence really hit home, with scores of commenters agreeing it was a matter of destiny for somebody born on that historic date to end up as the overseer of American defense machinery.
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The start of a simple birthday shout-out quickly became something else-a window through which the public gets a glimpse of the thoughts on Mr. Trump’s appointee. The great number of positive responses is a testament to Pete Hegseth’s popularity despite the deeply divisive atmosphere. Whether typing about his media days or his military leadership days or that very basketball photo from his youth, the thread was genuine warmth for the Secretary of Defense on his special day.