Priya Sridhar says serving members feel they are being treated as props
Priya SridharCorrespondent for MS NOW, on Deadline: White House
Asked on MS NOW whether Hegseth's focus on grooming and weight registers with military families, correspondent Priya Sridhar said it was a question of priorities and reported that serving members she had spoken to felt they were being treated as props.
“I can tell you from talking to service members who are currently in right now that the way they really feel right now is that they are being treated as props.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Were the Pentagon's Fitness and Grooming Requirements for Hegseth's Speech Appropriate?
Ahead of a "State of the Force" address scheduled for September 30, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emailed U.S. Army commanders asking them to nominate service members who meet the Army's waist-to-height ratio and fitness-test standards, along with "impeccable grooming and uniform standards (no exception)" and other performance criteria, for the chance to attend and join him for a workout, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The Pentagon declined to comment on the request when contacted by multiple outlets; the directive drew public criticism and mockery from several commentators.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
The outlet's own upload of the broadcast segment. The quoted wording is our transcription of the video audio. Speaker attribution rests on the panel roster in the video description and on points in the exchange where Wallace addresses a panellist by name immediately before their answer. Paul Rieckhoff also speaks in the segment but his contributions could not be attributed with confidence from audio alone and are not recorded.
Before the quotation
Nicolle Wallace addressed Sridhar by name and asked whether the secretary's focus on grooming and weight came up with families of deployed service members.
After the quotation
The service members Sridhar described were not named. The Pentagon declined to comment on the underlying Wall Street Journal report.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Sridhar frames the criteria as misplaced priorities and relays that those subject to them experience the exercise as instrumental, which is a rejection of the conduct. The closest competing label is a finding that this is not a position event, since she is reporting what sources told her rather than stating her own view. That loses because she introduces the reporting with her own judgment that it is a question of priorities, which supplies an attributable evaluation.
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- Pete Hegseth
More from this case
Read the full caseHegseth defends enforcing standards
“Telling someone to get in shape, or shave, or fix their uniform, or start busting their ass - that's not discrimination. That's leadership.”Read statement
Pentagon press office offers no comment on the speech attendee criteria
United States Department of Defense
“Nothing to offer you on this.”Read statement
Jen Psaki calls the attendance criteria "casting call requirements" and questions Hegseth's priorities
“Way to focus in the middle of a war on things that really matter right now.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Priya Sridhar says serving members feel they are being treated as props". First published: 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1079-asked-on-ms-now-whether-hegseth-s-focus