Joe Scarborough has likened Pete Hegseth to a “runaway beer truck” in a humiliating segment for the defense secretary.
The Morning Joe panel slammed Hegseth’s leadership in the Iran war, placing fault largely on him for the 18 American soldiers killed and the billions of dollars in damage inflicted on U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
“This guy, as we say in Northwest Florida, ‘Look at him, he’s a runaway beer truck,’” the Pensacola-raised Scarborough said Wednesday. “Like you don’t want to see a runaway beer truck in Northwest Florida, and you sure don’t want to see it run your Pentagon. But that’s what we have.”
That jab came as the MS Now panel laid out the significant destruction of U.S. military facilities and munitions shortages that experts warn are making the U.S. vulnerable to attacks from more powerful adversaries, like China or Russia.
Scarborough, a fierce Donald Trump critic, offered the president some pre-midterms advice: Get rid of Hegseth, and many of your Iran problems will vanish.
“Get rid of that guy and a lot of your problems at the Pentagon go away,” Scarborough said. “Get somebody who actually knows what they’re doing.”
Or, simply get anyone else, he suggested.
“Donald Trump usually has pretty good instincts for this stuff. That guy’s bad for me, so he has to go,” co-host Willie Geist added. “[Hegseth] is bad for Donald. Horrible for Donald Trump. And the best answer you get is he likes that he looks the part. It’s like, he’s got good hair or something. But like at some point that has to expire. You say he’s bad for me.”
Trump has described Hegseth, a 46-year-old former Fox News pundit who is mocked within the military for his lack of accomplishments in the service, as appearing “straight out of central casting.”
If that is all it takes to lead the military, Scarborough said the president should just look to Hollywood.
“Get Brad Pitt and do less damage,” he said.
For now, Scarborough says he is dumbfounded that Trump continues to stick by Hegseth, given his long history of firing anyone who embarrasses him. Even before the war with Iran dragged out for months longer than expected, there was Signalgate in 2025.
Scarborough said, “Why would Donald Trump—we ask this every day—why would he continue to defend a guy that caused his first real problem his first year, when things were going well for him, with Signalgate going, ‘Hey, guys. Hey, [Atlantic editor] Jeffrey Goldberg, we’re about to launch a secret attack.’ Nobody does that.”
He continued: “And then he screwed up munitions; he pushed the president into war along with Netanyahu—”
Co-host Mika Brzezinski cut him off.
“None surprising because he was not qualified for the job and there were many other concerning issues about his ability to do the job in a complete and completely put-together fashion,” she said.
A laughing Scarborough interjected, “Put-together fashion?”
Brzezinski answered, “Want me to say it? Sober!”
