‘MAGA males are betas’: Pete Hegseth makes distasteful post about Canadian cadets, Adam Kinzinger calls him out for making fun of children
He probably should have picked someone around his age to make fun of
Tensions between the United States and Canada have reached an all-time high. Since becoming president for a second time last year, Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Canada, which has, on the political front, culminated in a trade war between the two countries.
This time, it’s Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who is carrying Trump’s legacy forward by demeaning Canada and Canadian people, particularly the youth. After the official Instagram account of Vernon Cadet Training Centre (@cadets.vernon) posted a picture of two young people holding an award, Hegseth shared it online, adding the Canadian flag and the comment “this is real” in brackets, in an effort to throw shade.
Former United States Representative Adam Kinzinger, a frequent critic of Trump and the Trump administration, picked up on this and took to social media to express concern. Sharing Hegseth’s post, he wrote, “Literally they’re kids. This is a cadet program and our a** hat of a Secdef is making fun of children.” He added, “MAGA males are betas who have to punch down to feel big.”
People’s response to it is, well, mixed
Kinzinger’s post has over a thousand comments, and the people are divided in their opinions. While some people agree with Kinzinger and support him, others don’t and called him out instead.
One individual wrote, “Concerning he chose kids, to basically mock….. Again, that’s typical for MAGA, they can’t get enough of kids….” Another individual, while correcting Kinzinger and commenting on the physical appearance of the people featured in Hegseth’s post said, “Why do progressives have to pretend like they don’t understand what is being said here? Obviously, they’re making fun of the morbidly obese major/Colonel to the right and not the normal looking cadet.”
A few people (some respectfully and some not so much) pointed out that not both people featured in the image were Cadets. They noted that the one on the left was a Cadet while the one on the right was an officer.
One person, while calling Kinzinger out for the alleged mistake, wrote, “They’re not “kids.” The person Hegseth highlighted is a Cadet Instructors Cadre officer — an adult volunteer in a CAF reserve uniform — standing next to an actual cadet.” They also accused Kinzinger of distorting the the information and wrote, “You saw the photo, inverted the facts, and immediately reached for “punching down on children” because the truth is less useful to you.”
U.S. and Canada fell off on a trade deal recently
On August 21, 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a statement, alleged that “last-minute changes” to the terms proposed by the U.S. were “unfair, uneconomic” and cited them as reasons for calling off a deal with the U.S. Carney also briefly mentioned Trump’s threat to impose 50 percent tariffs on select Canadian goods and services and said that “Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses.”
Since this incident, Trump’s relentless attacks on Canada have continued, with the latest being his renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America amid widespread Canadian opposition.
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