Secretary of War Pete Hegseth cracked up the audience on Monday with his Trump-like Lindsey Graham impression.
While speaking at the renaming event for Joint Base Charleston, now known as Joint Base Lindsey Graham, in South Carolina, Hegseth attempted his best impression of the late senator. It took one word for him to stop and admit that he “always” ends up sounding like Trump.
Watch:
Pete Hegseth attempts a Lindsey Graham impersonation:
“He said, ‘gentlemen…’– I can’t do it.” pic.twitter.com/y5Lp52zGKE
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) August 10, 2026
“I’ll never forget it. In his accent, he sat there, and he said, ‘Gentlemen—’ I can’t do a Lindsey Graham accent. It always devolves into a Trump accent,” he chuckled before continuing on with the quote.
“He said, ‘Gentlemen, welcome to a place where you can still use the word victory,'” the secretary said.
Hegseth did get an opportunity to break out his incredible Trump impression during the ceremony.
“When it comes to the president’s directive, he said, ‘Pete, deliver peace through strength, put America first, and apply common sense.’ And we try to do that across our formations as much as humanly possible. I often ask him — I say, ‘Hey, Mr. President, I’m gonna go see your troops, this time out in South Carolina.’ I always ask him, ‘What do you want me to — what do you want me to tell ’em?’” Hegseth said. “And his answer is always the same. He goes, ‘Pete, tell ’em I love ’em.’”
He also shared a personal story about his experience with Graham after coming back from Iraq.
Watch:
.@SECWAR “I’m proud to say that I actually knew him for more than 20 years. Nineteen years ago, young First Lieutenant Pete Hegseth came back from Iraq.
He was a part of a veterans’ organization called Vets for Freedom that believed in the surge in Iraq and advocated for the… pic.twitter.com/EIHkukxWI1
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) August 10, 2026
“I’m proud to say that I actually knew him for more than 20 years. Nineteen years ago, young First Lieutenant Pete Hegseth came back from Iraq. He was a part of a veterans’ organization called Vets for Freedom that believed in the surge in Iraq and advocated for the troops on the ground. We were a young, scrappy veterans’ organization with no money, no access, and no connections. The first and only senator willing to meet with First Lieutenant Hegseth and Vets for Freedom was Senator Lindsey Graham,” he recalled.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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