“Let them eat steak!” Even after being debunked, they keep pushing the bullsh*t about War Secretary Pete Hegseth, and his alleged luxury spending spree. “82 million can’t afford health care, but Hegseth gets lobster,” screams the headline of this USA Today opinion piece today.
The writer later states that “the Pentagon is swimming in millions of dollars’ worth of ribeye steak and lobster tails, part of more than $93 billion the U.S. Department of Defense spent in September as the fiscal year closed.”
Meanwhile, others have been posting similar headlines over the past two days. On March 11 Newsweek’s headline read: “Pete Hegseth Spent Millions on Steak, Crab Legs and Lobster: Report.” And the story explained:
According to the analysis, the Defense Department spent $2 million on Alaskan king crab and $6.9 million on lobster tail in September 2025 alone. The same month also saw $15.1 million spent on rib-eye steak, alongside purchases of salmon and other food items.
As Mark Twain famously said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
And of course, ignorant partisan Democrat politicians joined in the smear campaign and their symbiotic relationship with the left-wing media. “Newsom Savages Pentagon Pete Over Lobster and Steak Splurge,” read a Daily Beast headline.
The article referred to a post on X by the failed California governor press office skewering (pun intended) Hegseth. The article notes: “Newsom, 58, pounced on the report, posting an AI-generated image of Hegseth, 45, lounging amid the spoils of his department’s all-you-can-buy spending spree.”
Then there was failed Senate candidate Jasmine Crocket posting on X: “While they were busy cutting SNAP and health care for working families, Pete Hegseth spent $2 million on King Crab, nearly $7 million on Lobster Tails…” (RELATED: SWAT Team Kills Man Linked To Jasmine Crockett’s Security Detail)
Left-wing political pundit Jimmy Kimmel, who cosplays as a comedian, roasted (pun intended again) Hegseth over the same alleged ‘crime’ — splurging on luxuries.
The problem with all of this is that it is totally wrong and misinformed. The idea that Hegseth is ordering this food for himself and his cronies is laughable. It also shows how little these sheltered left-wing politicians and media types know about our military.
And CNN’s lone conservative commentator, Scott Jennings, fried (pun intended…) Clinton-era Democrat pundit Paul Begala after the two clashed about Hegseth.
While on-air Begala slammed Hegseth over the millions spent on lobster tails and ribeye steaks, claiming Hegseth bought the lobster and steak “all for himself” while American troops were “eating MRE’s.”
Jennings was quick to ask Begala if he believes Hegseth is “personally eating all the lobster” before asserting “it’s for the troops.” In response to Jennings’s call for the internet to “do its thing,” Thomas Hern posted a video of several troops filming themselves eating steak and lobster.
As one veteran put it in National Review:
Commentators seemed convinced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is putting down 690,000 lobster tails (assuming $10 per tail) monthly. First of all, he’s too vain. All that shellfish would make him red and puffy — no good for TV and photos. Second, the Navy (with 340,000 active-duty personnel) could handle that kind of buy on its own. Add the Air Force bases (which expect this kind of service as a matter of course), the Army’s being double the size of the Navy, and the Marines’ appetites, and it’s easy to see where the food goes.
It is a common practice for the Pentagon to provide these special meals, often known as “surf and turf Fridays,” to our service men and women at least once a week. And this has been the case for decades, even under Democrats.
As the Washington Examiner noted:
In 2009, when Robert Gates was the Secretary of Defense during the Obama administration, a reporter embedded with soldiers in Afghanistan detailed the experience: “The lobsters and crab legs are shipped from the United States and driven down on a refrigerated truck from Bagram. On seafood night, the crew serves up 400 of the tasty tails, 130 pounds of Alaskan King crab legs, and 135 pounds each of shrimp and scallops.”
And here is a story from RealClearPolitics investigations in 2024, when Gen. Lloyd Austin was the Secretary of Defense under President Joe Biden:
“The military spent $103.7 million on meat, fish and poultry, including $16.6 million on ribeye steak and 147 orders of lobster tail for $6.1 million. Orders of blueberries, ice cream and doughnuts also exceeded $100,000.”
Meanwhile another veteran posted a photo on X of steak and lobster on a tray in a Navy mess, noting above the photo: “A comprehensive list of commentators, public intellectuals, and journalists who don’t know anyone in the military, as indicated by their ignorance regarding the [military] tradition of steak and lobster.” (RELATED: Former Army Leader Says Iran Misread Trump As Conflict Continues)
And someone else posted:
The fact is that this kind of spending on steak and lobster is absolutely normal.
And when the Pentagon had over $93 billion left at the end of its budget cycle, and Pete Hegseth and his team, due to the bureaucracy’s “spend it or lose it practice,” spent a tiny fraction of that ($22 million out of $93 BILLION) to reward Pentagon workers and our troops with surf and turf.
Sadly, neither the left-wing media nor the Democrats care about the truth when it comes to Republicans.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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If your reproter would only research Bides’s depart of defense he will find almost exactly the same dollars spent on the same articles for many years.
Thanks Paul for exposing the truth with historical facts. If only the msm or democrats could be so truthful and honest.