Fox Hosts Reveal Pete Hegseth’s Disgusting Eating Habits
Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary who once said he didn’t wash his hands, apparently had a loose definition of the five-second rule.
Fox News hosts Ainsley Earhardt and Joe Concha shared their fond memories of their former colleague-turned-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday—and his love for eating food off the floor.
Fox News’ Outnumbered closed its Wednesday episode with a discussion about a TikTok video testing the “five-second rule” for food, which found that there is virtually no difference between how much bacteria grows in one or five seconds.
Concha put to the test by eating a banana he had just dropped to the floor, leading co-hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy, Lara Trump, and Earhardt to convulse in disgust. Campos-Duffy, Hegseth’s former Fox & Friends Weekend colleague, said Concha was “auditioning for the Pete Hegseth seat.”

Pete Hegseth went from disturbing eating habits at Fox News to secretary of defense.
Eric Thayer/Getty
Earhardt then described an instance where Hegseth also once dropped a New York delicacy—a bagel smeared with cream cheese—on the ground before taking a bite.
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“He would drop it, it would land upside down, the cream cheese on the floor, and he would pick it up,” she recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Wait, is there any hair on there?’ It was so gross, and he would just pop it in his mouth.”
The Defense Department did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Concha then described another instance when Hegseth said he didn’t wash his hands when he left the bathroom, prompting one of the hosts to chime in: “He said that once on air!”
“He’s like an Army guy,” Earhardt said. “You know, he’s tough!”
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Hegseth made the revelation during a February 2019 episode of Fox & Friends Sunday, saying he didn’t believe in the concept of germs because he couldn’t see them. “I don’t think I’ve washed my hands for 10 years,” he told his co-hosts.
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