Pete Hegseth posted about a cadet and an instructor at a military summer camp body shaming them.

Posted by Pivot, Sep 4, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 4 support1 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 85%

PivotSep 4, 2026

Multiple outlets (HuffPost, The Globe and Mail, Herald, The Spec, New Republic) report Hegseth posted on X a photo of a Canadian Vernon Cadet Training Centre cadet and instructor captioned 'this is real' with a Canadian flag, which critics widely described as body-shaming them.

A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.

What we found

Supports. HuffPost reports Hegseth posted on X 'this is real' above a photo of a cadet with an instructor at a Vernon Cadet Training Centre summer program, and that critics said it body-shamed them.[2]

Supports. The Globe and Mail describes the post as seeming to be a derisive swipe at the physical appearances of the two people shown, from a Canadian cadet program summer training camp.[3]

Supports. The Spec and New Republic report Hegseth's post mocked a cadet and instructor from the Vernon program, with commenters accusing him of body-shaming them; a Pentagon spokesperson said the post 'speaks for itself.'[4][5]

Context. Snopes' debunked-rumors collection does not address this post; it covers other Hegseth rumors, so it neither confirms nor refutes this specific claim.[1]