Critics on social media blasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s newly announced plan to require testosterone level testing for service members over the age of 30.
“I’m authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members, ensuring you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best, because it’s well-established science that as we age, testosterone levels often naturally drop,” Hegseth said in a video on X posted with the phrase “The High-T Department of War.”
Hegseth said the testing will be added to service members’ annual medical examinations. If doctors recommend testosterone replacement therapy, individuals will not have the treatment forced upon them.
“This initiative, it’s not about artificial enhancement,” Hegseth said. “It’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities.”
Critics mocked the former weekend Fox News host, branding the idea of offering testosterone replacement therapy as “gender-affirming care.” The irony, of course, is that soon after Hegseth became defense secretary, he banned transgender people from serving in the military and ordered an immediate hold on gender-affirming care for transgender troops.
Some commenters suggested Hegseth was projecting his insecurities about his own masculinity. Others expressed their bewilderment that Hegseth would enact the testosterone tests after eliminating mandatory flu vaccines for service members: