Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth didn’t hold back when he responded to twice-failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's recent remarks accusing him of "cowering to Vladimir Putin." The former Fox News host fiercely defended his stance, calling out Clinton’s baseless attack and making it clear that his views on Russia are rooted in a pragmatic, America-first approach. Hegseth's fiery rebuttal shot down Clinton’s claims, with him pointing to the need for a more strategic, measured approach to dealing with global threats.
On Sunday, Clinton took to social media to taunt Hegseth, sharing an article from Gizmodo titled, “Trump’s Defense Secretary Hegseth Orders Cyber Command to ‘Stand Down’ on All Russia Operations.”
“It appears that the U.S. no longer considers Russia a significant cyber threat, according to multiple news reports on a drastic policy reversal that has taken hold under the new Trump administration,” the article read. “The cybersecurity outlet The Record originally reported that under Trump’s new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Cyber Command has been ordered to stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions.” The outlet cites three anonymous sources who are familiar with the matter. The order reportedly does not apply to the National Security Agency.”
Attached to her X post, Clinton wrote, “Wouldn’t want to hurt Putin’s feelings.”
In response, Hegseth posted a photo of then-Secretary of State Clinton attempting to “reset” relations with Russia. His post referenced an event from March 2009, when Clinton announced that the Obama Administration would push the "reset" button with Russia. However, while presenting the proposal, they mistakenly spelled "overcharge" instead of “reset.”
Wouldn’t want to hurt Putin’s feelings. https://t.co/rK69K8RCBD
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 2, 2025
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 2, 2025
In 2014, Clinton told NPR that “the reset worked” with Russia. Just days later, she told CNN that she was the “most skeptical” of the Russian “reset” policy.