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‘Fire Hegseth’ petition gains steam as Defense Secretary slammed amid Iran war; ‘more deranged than SNL skits’

A petition to fire Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary has started to gain traction online even as lawmaker Pat Ryan slammed him amid the ongoing Iran war. 

Published on: Mar 18, 2026, 05:52:17 IST
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A petition to fire Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary has started to gain traction online. The petition reads “Pete Hegseth has put our troops in harm's way and failed the American people. He needs to go and we need your help.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has come under fire amid the Iran war. (AFP)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has come under fire amid the Iran war. (AFP)

It lists out a detailed case against Hegseth, who served as infantry officer in the Army National Guard, attaining the rank of Major. Before being appointed by President Donald Trump, Hegseth was a Fox News personality, co-hosting Fox & Friends Weekend.

The petition claims there has been ‘politicization of Pentagon’ under Hegseth and adds that he's had other errors like the Signalgate row, the domestic deployment of troops and the military action in Venezuela that saw troops fly back President Nicolas Maduro and his wife to face indictment.

Also Read | Strait of Hormuz: US makes big move against Iran's anti-ship cruise missiles; what are deep penetrator munitions?

It also has a timeline purportedly showing when Hegseth put American troops' lives on the line and finishes with a list of sources to back up the claims made against the Defense Secretary.

People can enter their first name, email id, phone number and zip code to become one of the signatories who want Hegseth fired. The petition began to gain traction online amid the Iran war.

“Signed the petition to Fire Hegseth!,” one person commented on X. Another added “Sign the Petition to Fire Hegseth!”. Yet another said "the website he started: Sign the Petition to Fire Hegseth!," sharing a video of US representative from New York, Pat Ryan, where the former U.S. Army intelligence officer can be heard slamming Hegseth.

Pat Ryan slams Pete Hegseth: Video

A video of Ryan slamming Hegseth was shared by MediastTouch, which claims to do ‘pro democracy journalism’. In the video, Ryan says “Hegseth has literally become more deranged than the SNL skits at this point. Each time he screws up, he gets more desperate—he screams louder.”

Ryan went on to issue a series of expletives about the Defense Secretary and added “He has the blood of thirteen Americans on his hands, and he needs to be held accountable for that.”

He was referring to the lives lost during the Iran war. At least 13 US soliders are believed to have been killed since the US conflict with Iran began. The war has been met with much criticism back home as one of President Trump's poll pitches was to have lesser wars during his time in office. Critics have also pointed out that the US need to have gotten dragged into Israel's conflict with Iran. The US has had trouble convincing its NATO allies to actively support its efforts against Iran – and president Trump's call to nations to help with the Strait of Hormuz situation was rebuffed by many of the European allies including the UK and Spain.

  • Shuvrajit Das Biswas
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Shuvrajit Das Biswas

    Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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