Don Bacon
Role at the time: United States representative and retired Air Force brigadier general
Condemned
Response to this claim
Hegseth’s post mocked or invited mockery of the appearance and achievements of people shown in the Canadian cadet-program image.
“It's lowbrow. I think it's unprofessional… demeaning and uncalled for.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Don Bacon calls Hegseth's cadet post lowbrow and demeaningCNN interview excerpt in paragraphs 5–8.
Reports Bacon's answer during a CNN interview and includes the original Hegseth post.
Why we used this label
The statement is an explicit condemnation from a U.S. lawmaker in Hegseth’s own party.